The figures from Retirement Advantage come after the Equity Release Council reported annual lending reached £1.61bn last year.
The South East tops the regional list for potential equity release value available in Q4 with a total of £76bn, followed by Greater London at £57bn.
Greater London and East Anglia saw the fastest annual growth in property value at 17%, followed closely by East Anglia at 16.7% and the North East at 14.5%.
Alice Watson, product and communications manager at Retirement Advantage Equity Release, said: “The latest lending figures from the ERC confirm that equity release is increasingly becoming an integral part of retirement planning in the UK. The market is growing rapidly, but clearly still has a way to go, with less than 1% of housing wealth available to over-55s being accessed through equity release.
“As an industry, we have plenty of work to do to ensure that retirees understand all the options available to them. For many, their home will be their most valuable asset, and we should encourage them to understand that they can access the wealth stored in their homes without having to sell up,” she said.
