The amount of equity available for release in UK homes increased by £25bn in the final quarter of 2021, according to Canada Life.

Analysis of the Halifax quarterly regional house price index showed that more than £760bn of equity was available for release in Q4 last year, a record figure.

The average price of a property in the South East is now £374k, creating £148.9bn of potential equity for the region, the largest available equity by region in the UK.

This was closely followed by London where the average house price is now £525k with £140.5bn of total potential equity. Property prices in Wales, the North West and South West saw the largest growth in Q4, growing by 5.8%, 5.0% and 4.2% respectively.

Wales now has £29.9bn of potential equity available, or almost £72k per household. In the North West there is now almost £66bn available, equating to £74k per household and in the South West £77.8bn of available equity leads to £100k available to release per household.

Londoners have the highest amount of equity available per household with £183k available on average. This is followed by the South East (£131k) and East Anglia (£111k). Homeowners in the North East and Yorkshire have the least amount of equity available per household with £55.8k and £67.2k available on average.

Canada Life head of marketing, insurance, Alice Watson says: “Q4 has shown incredible growth in property prices across the country. As a result homeowners have greater opportunities to support their retirement planning and aspirations with their growing household equity.

“The diverse nature of equity release products mean that they can be used to meet a range of evolving needs. Whilst releasing equity from a property remains a very significant and individual decision it has a valuable role to play in helping today’s homeowners live the retirement they’ve worked long and hard for. With the right advice, equity release has proven it can help people to access their property wealth flexibly and safely.”