Pensions - Articles - Comment on Equity Release Council 2015 sales figures

 "Equity release sales have doubled over the last five years, demonstrating the increasing recognition of the role housing wealth can play in supporting lifestyles in retirement. Customers have a range of options when releasing value tied up in their homes, with the majority last year - seven in every 10 - choosing drawdown plans that allow withdrawals to be staged to allow flexibility while minimising the overall cost.

 "With the new pension rules coming into force, flexibility was a major theme of 2015. Today's retirees have more choice than ever before and many will need to look beyond pensions towards other sources of income such as equity release to ensure their own financial security in later life. Housing wealth should be a normal part of retirement thinking and we support proposals to make it a bigger part of the conversation, such as adding it to the Guaranteed Guidance now offered to all retirees. Given the scale of property assets, housing wealth should be factored into retirement planning whether people intend to downsize, release equity or pass on the home as an inheritance."