Retired homeowners have earned £1,700 from their houses in the past three months alone, as their property wealth hit a record high, according to Key Retirement.com.

The over-55s financial specialist found that total property wealth owned by over-65s who have paid off their mortgages grew to a new record high of £1.072 trillion in February.

More than £7.66 billion has been added to their property wealth since November, as the housing market continues to expand across most of the country.

Owning a home has been worth around £9,400 a year for over-65s since 2010, when Key Retirement began to collate the statistics.

Regional split

Only over-65s in London and Scotland saw the value of their total property wealth drop in the past three months. However retired London homeowners still own £177 billion of property wealth.

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Retired homeowners in East Anglia saw the biggest growth in the past three months, and are now £4,265 better off, while over-65s in the South East, Yorkshire & Humberside and the North East all saw gains of more than £3,400 each.

Dean Mirfin, technical director at KeyRetirement.com said: “Property investment has consistently delivered for retired homeowners over the past seven years and the £1,700 gained over the past three months underlines its success story.

“During a period of historically low interest rates and investment market volatility, pensioners who have paid off mortgages have been able to rely on tax-free returns from their homes no matter what the short-term ups and downs have been.”

Mirfin added that the average payouts taken through equity release of £78,000 are enabling retired homeowners to address a wide range of financial issues, including helping family and/or friends, to paying for holidays and home improvements. “Repaying debt is also a major reason for releasing equity,” he added.