The total amount of money borrowed via equity release products came to £4.8bn in 2021, the Equity Release Council (ERC) states in its newest annual report.

This compares to £3.89bn in 2020, which was down on the £3.92bn recorded in 2019.

During 2021, the ERC report says, the total value of housing in the UK increased 11%, to £5.2tn. This equates to £1m being added every minute throughout the UK.

It adds that although mortgage debt grew to record levels – £1.6bn – homeowners gained £869 of equity for every £100 of borrowing last year.

The average equity release interest rate by the start of 2022 came to 4.16%, up annually on 3.95%, although the ERC says that the average borrower in the second half of 2021 took on a rate of 3.39%.

Overall product numbers dipped during the year, from 668 in July 2021 to 665 at the start of 2022.  The ERC points out that 310 of the latter product choice have rates set at 4% or lower, with 11 at 6.01% and above.

In July 2021, these numbers read as 275 and 28, respectively.

ERC chair David Burrowes says: “With £1m added to the value of UK housing every minute last year, the options afforded by property wealth will feature in many people’s thoughts as they make financial plans for the future.

“The equity release market’s return to growth is part of a wider pick-up in later life lending activity, and the flexible design of modern lifetime mortgages gives customers more ways to manage their finances and access life-changing sums of money at a lower cost.”

Late last month, the ERC made penalty-free partial loan repayments a prerequisite for all equity release plans for new customers.