Equity release lending hit £571.6m in the third quarter of this year - the highest quarterly value on record - according to figures from the Equity Release Council (ERC).
The figure, which is up 26% on the same period last year, took total equity release lending in the first nine months of 2016 to £1.48bn and led commentators to speculate the market could hit £2bn by the end of the year. ERC chairman Nigel Waterson (pictured) said the fall in equity release interest rates to well below any other mortgage product in the first half of the year had made the idea more appealing to homeowners. Waterson attributed the fall in rates to increased competition within the equity release market. He added: "The range of features now available gives people the optio...
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