Equity release and single occupancy homes to grow - CML

Over 15,000 lifetime or equity release mortgages with a value of £693 million were sold in the second half of 2004, bringing the total value of the market for old homeowners to £4bn or 25 times the size it was 10 years ago. That said, interest in equity release was not as rapid as the previous year – perhaps as a result of then pending mortgage regulation - as lifetime mortgage growth climbed 70% in 2003. The CML points out research by the Institute of Actuaries also suggests people over the age of 65 years are thought to hold unmortgaged housing assets worth over £1 trillion. Acco...