Retirement Advantage estimate that in the first half of 2017, 13 first-time buyers were helped onto the housing ladder every week thanks to equity release.

According to the firm, the figure highlights the scale of support first time buyers receive from relatives, who are tapping into their property wealth alongside other savings to help loved ones purchase their first property.

Retirement Advantage’s data reveals that in the first half of 2017, 2% of customers said they were purchasing an equity release product so that they could help a first-time buyer. Over the same period, figures from the Equity Release Council show that there were 16,805 new equity release customers nationwide. By applying its experiences across the whole of the UK, Retirement Advantage estimates this equates to 13 people each week being helped on to the first rung of the property ladder thanks to equity release.

Alice Watson, head of marketing at Retirement Advantage Equity Release, said: “Much has been made of the financial support first-time buyers get from relatives. What we are seeing is that existing property wealth is a significant source of finance for that support. As the equity release market continues to boom and products grow in popularity, helping first time buyers comes up consistently as a common reason for choosing to release equity.

“People want to use the value stored away in their properties to treat themselves in retirement, in the shape of home improvements or holidays, but they want to help loved ones too. For the majority of over-55s, property is their single biggest source of wealth. Combined with the growing trend of families helping first time buyers onto the property ladder, it is likely we’ll see many more people become property owners thanks to equity release over the coming months and years.”