Retired homeowners continue to see benefits of property investment

Retired home owners have gained £45.7 billion in property wealth* in the past 12 months – despite short-term changes in house prices.

Key’s Pensioner Property Equity Index shows that the total property wealth owned by over-65s who have paid off their mortgages is near a record high, with average home owners making around £812 a month since May last year.

This means, many over-65s now have considerable property wealth, which can make a huge contribution not only to their standard of living in retirement, but also the financial wellbeing of family members. Our customers are increasingly choosing equity release in order to help loved ones in a variety of ways – from helping children take their first step on the housing ladder, to paying for expenses such as weddings.

The over 65s in the East Midlands have been the biggest winners, with their property wealth climbing by nearly £1,170 per month. West Midlands pensioners, Scots and East Anglians have also all seen significant gains. Indeed, there are no areas on the UK map which have recorded price falls.

Key started analysing over-65s housing wealth in 2010 and, since then, have recorded that homeowners have seen growth of 41% - £320 billion (an average gain of £9,741) in the past year.

 
The bigger picture

The table below shows the detailed picture across Great Britain with all areas experiencing growth.
 

Region	Average change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between May 2017 and May 2018 index)	Combined change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between May 2017 and May 2018 index
South East	Up £10,582	+£6.942 billion
London	Up £7,111	+£2.603 billion
South West	Up £11,655	+£7.303 billion
North West	Up £7,281	+£4.886 billion
East Anglia	Up £11,681	+£5.513 billion
East Midlands	Up £14,003	+£6.038 billion
West Midlands	Up £12,029	+£4.311billion
Yorks/Humbs	Up £9,360	+£2.701 billion
Scotland	Up £11,865	+£3.346 billion
Wales	Up £1,148	+£303.760 million
North East	Up £6,382	+£1.755 billion
GREAT BRITAIN	Up £9,373	+£43.972 billion

 
 
The table below shows over-65s in the North West are most likely to own outright with 671,000 having paid off mortgages compared with 656,000 in the South East. However nearly a fifth of all property wealth held by retired homeowners is in the South East.
 

Region	Estimated property equity in homes owned outright by people aged 65+ (May 2018)	Estimated percentage of total value of property equity belonging to people aged 65+ (May 2018)	Number of households in the region owned outright by people aged 65+
South East	£211.295 billion	19.21%	656,000
London	£175.260 billion	15.93%	366,000
South West	£157.826 billion	14.35%	626,600
East Anglia	£136.317 billion	12.39%	472,000
North West	£105.703 billion	9.61%	671,000
East Midlands	£82.021 billion	7.46%	431,200
West Midlands	£68.928 billion	6.27%	358,400
Yorks/Humbs	£45.878 billion	4.17%	288,600
Scotland	£42.019 billion	3.82%	282,000
Wales	£39.397 billion	3.58%	264,600
North East	£35.387 billion	3.22%	275,000
GREAT BRITAIN	£1.100 trillion		4,691,400

 
 
* Key’s Pensioner Property Equity Index tracks the amount of equity held in property by people over 65 years old in Great Britain. Figures are based on analysis of data from the ONS Family Spending Report (2014), the UK House Price Index, Registers of Scotland House Price Statistics and ICM (2014) and Key’s UK Equity Release Market Monitor.

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