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Over-65s property wealth hits new record high
Pensioners earned £3,500 a month from their homes in the past three months, taking property wealth owned by over-65s to a new record high of £1.01trn.
More than £47.2bn was added to the property wealth of over-65s in the three months to August, analysis from Key Retirement reveals.
Its Pensioner Property Equity Index showed that pensioners who had paid off their mortgages, added an average of £10,600 to the property value as the market recovered across the regions.
Since Key Retirement started analysing the data in 2010, retirees have seen property value growth of 41% or £321bn. This equates to around £68,500 on average for each homeowner and it suggests owning a home has been worth around £9,800 a year for retirees.
Regionally, London homeowners have benefited the most, making nearly £17,000 and pensioners living in East Anglia, Scotland, the South West and the North East also saw double-digit gains.
Key Retirement said the strength of the housing market means property wealth is making a major contribution to the standards of living for retirees as the equity release market expands. The average equity release customer is cashing in £70,625 of property wealth, while in London the figure’s much higher at £114,000 while in the South East, it’s £82,000.
The table below shows the change in property values across the UK:
Dean Mirfin, chief product officer at Key Retirement, said: “The strength of the housing market over the three months has significantly boosted property wealth for pensioners making as much as £3,500 a month.
“Prices may not continue to grow as fast but pensioners who have paid off mortgages can still rely on tax-free returns no matter what happens in the short and medium term.”