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OVER-65s EARN £9,200 IN A YEAR FROM THEIR HOMES

21 December 2020

Over-65s saw their property wealth increase by more than £9,200 each on average in the past year as the housing market benefited from strong demand partly driven by the temporary Stamp Duty holiday, analysis* from UK’s leading independent equity release adviser Key shows.
 
Total property wealth owned by over-65s who have paid off mortgages is valued at £1.224 trillion and has increased by £46.135 billion in the past year equivalent to a gain of £9,214 for homeowners, Key’s Pensioner Property Equity Index reveals.
 
Key’s data shows over the long-term their gains have been even more impressive. Since Key started analysing the mortgage-free property wealth of the over-65s in 2010 homeowners have seen growth of 57% - a total of more than £444 billion which is equivalent to £88,735 per household in the past decade.
 
The biggest gains in the past year have come in London where over-65s homeowners are more than £21,000 better off over the year while pensioners in the South West have gained £15,618 and over-65s in the South East are more than £10,000 ahead.  The only region to see property values drop was Wales with losses of nearly £2,000 the year.
 
The South East accounts for a fifth of all property wealth held by the over-65s with the South West and East Anglia accounting for nearly a third. London, which has the wealthiest over-65s homeowners, only accounts for 10% due to lower numbers of over-65s owning homes outright.
 
Will Hale, CEO at Key said: “The property market has performed strongly despite the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic with the Stamp Duty holiday on homes worth under £500,000 providing a material boost to demand. However, the Stamp Duty holiday is due to end on March 31stand continued uncertainty around the economic environment may mean that the housing market is set for period of increased volatility.
 
“However, short or medium-term volatility in the housing market does not change the basic fact that millions of over-65s retain considerable property wealth which can transform their standard of living in retirement and enable them to address a wide range of needs and wants.  Equity release is one way that older customers can tap into their property wealth. Demand for later life lending products has remained strong throughout the coronavirus crisis and with an increasing number of options available it is vital that customers seek specialist advice in order to find the product that best fits their individual circumstances.”
 
The table below shows the detailed picture across Great Britain with 10 areas seeing growth and only Wales recording a fall in property values.
 


Region
Average change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (past year) Combined change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (past year)
South East Up £10,127 + £ 7.365 billion
London Up £21,027 + £5.462 billion
South West Up £15,618 + £10,411 billion
North West Up £7,614 + £4.130 billion
East Anglia Up £9,295 + £5.110 billion
East Midlands Up £6,789 + £2.914 billion
West Midlands Up £4,259 +£1.624 billion
Yorks/Humbs Up £8,808 + £4.074 billion
Wales Down £1,970 -£730.578 million
Scotland Up £6,712 + £2,569 billion
North East Up £5,550 + £1.296 billion
GREAT BRITAIN Up £9,214 +£46.135 billion
 
 
The table below shows more over-65s in the South East have paid off mortgages with 727,000 owning their homes outright compared with 666,614 in the South West and 549,784 in East Anglia.
 

Region
Estimated equity in homes owned outright by people aged 65+ Estimated % of total value of equity belonging to people aged 65+ No. of households in the region owned outright by people aged 65+
South East £244.942 billion 20% 727,343
South West £183.569 billion 15% 666,614
East Anglia £165.251 billion 13.5% 549,784
London £128.987 billion 10.5% 259,801
North West £96.010 billion 7.8% 542,504
East Midlands £87.834 billion 7.2% 429,340
Yorks/Humbs £80.690 billion 6.6% 462,544
West Midlands £79.524 billion 6.5% 381,417
Wales £63.268 billion 5.2% 370,852
Scotland £61.823 billion 5.1% 382,784
North East £31.830 billion 2.6% 233,601
GREAT BRITAIN £1.224 trillion   5,006,584
 
 
 Anyone looking to release equity from their home can get Key’s independent guide to equity release by calling 0800 531 6027 or visiting https://www.keyadvice.co.uk/equity-release/is-it-right-for-me
 
 

Page last updated: Monday 25 January 2021