SHIP Continue to Champion Equity Release as a Retirement Fund
With the number of homeowners above State Pension Age (SPA) likely to increase, equity release could become a more popular means of funding retirement. This is the view of Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) who represents the equity release market and is continuing to petition government to produce a leaflet advertising equity release to those approaching 65 years old.
This is supported by a paper released by Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) which – amongst other things – demonstrated that the number of households where the head of house was over the SPA and who can make the most of equity release could rise from 3.9 million households in 2009 to 5.2 million in 2030.
Equity Release Should Be Considered Alongside Other Retirement Options
Equity release looks even more favourable with PPI’s prediction that there could be a 40% rise in housing wealth that pensioners could release by 2030.
Andrea Rozario, Director General of SHIP, commented: “SHIP has long championed the use of housing equity to fund retirement needs. Currently, pensioners can access £251 billion worth of housing wealth and this is set to grow to £359 billion by 2030, so proper consideration of this market and its potential must be a priority for all stakeholders.
“What we want for equity release is for it to be considered alongside other retirement planning options such as shopping around for an annuity.”
Equity release schemes have the ability to unlock tax-free lump sums or regular payments to help homeowners spend the money they need to enjoy their retirement.
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