The government should be doing more to ensure that people looking to take out equity release schemes can do so with more confidence.
This is the view of SHIP, the equity release trade body, which said it was disappointed that Alistair Darling did not use yesterday’s (March 24th) Budget announcement to provide more "unbiased and accurate" information on equity release schemes.
Andrea Rozario, director general of SHIP, said: "The government along with industry needs to ensure that people have confidence when choosing equity release as an option.
"For the vast majority of homeowners, their property is their most valuable asset and an equity release plan is something that is worthy of serious consideration."
Equity release plans can offer homeowners a welcome financial boost to fund their retirements with cash taken from the value of their property assets.
Figures taken from a recently-released SHIP report revealed that 30 per cent of retirees will need to hold down a part-time job in order to supplement a shortfall in their retirement funds.
