There is £382 billion worth of equity available within older homeowner’s properties, due to rises in house prices across the UK, Canada Life has revealed.

The figures, based on public data on UK property homeownership and the latest Nationwide Building Society house price figures, show that the amount of equity available to homeowners aged over-55 now stands at £382 billion, an increase of £2.5 billion compared to July 2018.

The equity release market has steadily been growing since 2011, with a 23% uptick from 2017 to 2018 reported by the Equity Release Council in their 2019 Spring Statement.

Alice Watson, head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Home Finance, said: “At the beginning of this year, we reported that nearly one in five financial advisers believed house prices would rise by up to 5% in 2019 – despite a less positive outlook from other commentators – and this has been proved right across many areas in the UK. While this isn’t the case for every region, the overall rise in house prices is great news for homeowners, whose largest asset is usually their property.

“Customer demand for equity release has increased significantly across the UK over the last year, and we expect this trend to continue over the next 12 months, especially as the recent rise in house prices means that more equity is now available to over-55s.

“With more equity now available, we anticipate demand for equity release to continue rising. Homeowners are continuing to look at property wealth holistically, and are increasingly viewing it as something that can help them enjoy their retirement.”