not have to fret about an unsustainable growth in home loans. This is owing to the fact that borrowers in the UK increased their mortgage capital repayments by a whopping 20 per cent by the end of June this year, recent figures issued by the Equity Release Council revealed.
According to the organisation, as more Brits decided to expand their private property wealth earlier this year, the total amount of housing debt repaid during the first half of 2021 soared to an unprecedented £38 billion, which is equivalent to £3,500 for every mortgaged household. As a result the total amount of mortgage borrowing converted into property wealth in the UK escalated to £4.87 billion by the end of H1 2021, from £4.21 trillion a year earlier.
“UK households are converting unprecedented amounts of mortgage borrowing into property wealth as we look to move on from the worst of the pandemic. Combined with property price rises fuelled by the stamp duty holiday, homeowners have record equity to potentially draw upon in later life,” The chairman of the Equity Release Council, David Burrowes, said.
He further noted that over the recent years, there has been a change in mind-set in the United Kingdom, with more people considering the possibility of tapping into property wealth to meet various retirement needs.
“The modern equity release market has shown resilience in the face of uncertainty to climb back towards pre-pandemic levels,” Burrowes added. “The disruption of the last 18 months has not slowed the pace of innovation in lifetime lending, and it is important the market continues to evolve to address the financial challenges people will face in the post-pandemic world.”
