Of those taking out equity release plans, 66% did so for home and garden improvements.
The second most popular use of funds was to go on holiday (35%) while 30% of borrowers used their equity to pay off debts. Meanwhile 20% of borrowers used equity release to clear outstanding mortgages.
Over the same period the size of the average loan grew year-on-year by 17% to nearly £65,000 driven by the strength of the housing market.
Dean Mirfin, group director at Key Retirement Solutions, (pictured) said: “The massive changes on the way people fund and save for retirement highlight the increasing role that property wealth will play and the equity release market is ideally suited to the new retirement flexibility.”
Standard drawdown plans represent 59% of sales while lifetime mortgages accounted for 31% of sales.
Enhanced drawdown and enhanced single advance lifetime mortgage plans, which offer higher loan-to-value plans to people with lifestyle or medical conditions, accounted for 9% of the market.
