The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) stated that although most people released equity to fund home improvements, an increasing proportion were likely to be using the money to resolve outstanding payments.
Sue Anderson, head of member and external relations at the CML, commented: “We know that the UK is becoming more indebted and that would seem to be a logical thing that people may well be doing.”
She added that they could be using it to consolidate their debts or to replace more expensive, unsecured debt with less expensive secured credit.
The comments come at the same time as a new poll from Retirement Plus, which found that although one-third of people would consider releasing equity, almost two-thirds were not willing to do it.
Speaking to IFA Online, chief executive Duncan Young said that the growing awareness of equity release among consumers would lead to the market growing “significantly”.
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