Equity Release Council announce shock increase in single women taking out Equity Release.

Today, the ERC announced that almost a third (30%) of new drawdown single plans are being taken out by female customers, whilst single male plans dropped to 14%.

There are compelling reasons for women to use the equity in their homes to improve the quality of their life during their retirement. Age UK have reported that women are more at risk of living in poverty than men (especially if they are single) and that 1 in 5 women are suffering hardship or living in poverty which has increased from 6% to around 20% in 2021. According to the charity 18% of pensioners are living on the breadline. This is a great concern to us at The Equity Release Lady, especially as many may own their own homes and are cash poor but property rich.

Sami Bickford Managing Director of The Equity Release lady said, ‘these figures make it even more important to us to spread the positive message about Equity Release to more people. We are determined to Educate, Empower and Support as many of these women as we can to investigate using the money in their property to improve their life.’

Sami went on to explain, ‘Interest rates have plummeted by nearly two percentage points over the last five years which is fantastic news and makes lifetime mortgages an even better option to consider. The products available have risen from 488 in January 2021 to 668 in July 2021. With the annual rate of UK house price growth having been above 7% since January 2021, there is more equity in our homes that could be used to improve later life.’

If you, your family or any of your clients could benefit from a free, confidential review, please contact Sami at

info@theequityreleaselady.co.uk