Rising Property Values Prompt Equity Release Loans

Borrowing drawing on the equity tied up in people’s property has hit its highest quarterly level since records began in 2002, figures show.

The Equity Release Council trade body has stated that equity release lending totalled £375.5m in the third quarter of the year. 

More than 5,500 people aged over 55 released equity from their homes over the same three months, it added. 

However, the Money Advice Service suggests this form of borrowing can be “expensive and inflexible”.

The average value of equity release also reached its highest level since 2002 in the third quarter of the year, with homeowners typically “releasing” £67,467. 

Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council, claimed that for many people aged over 55, pension savings were failing to cover rising costs. 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

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Public Borrowing Rises to £11.8bn in September

Government borrowing increased to £11.8bn in September, an increase of £1.6bn in comparison with a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics. 

The latest figures have been a setback for Chancellor George Osborne, who in March pledged to cut the budget deficit by more than 10% over the next 12 months. 

Between April and September borrowing was £58bn, a rise of £5.4bn compared with the same period last year. Economists were forecasting that borrowing would become stable. 

That is an increase of 10.3%. Last month’s figures showed borrowing between April and August was 6% higher than a year earlier.

“We have seen stronger growth in receipts this month, but as today’s figures show, the impact of the great recession is still being felt in our economy and the public finances,” a treasury spokesman said. 

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/business

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