Billions in equityNew figures show exactly why so many Britons are desperate to get onto the housing ladder - their older counterparts are now sitting on billions of pounds worth of equity as a result of rising house prices.

A study from Norwich Union has found that those aged 60 and over have a collective £841 billion secured in their properties - the equivalent of £82,446 per person.

In a busy week for equity news, a separate piece of research from Prudential has come up with similar findings, revealing that Scottish pensioners aged 65 and over who own their homes outright saw their equity increase by more than four and a half billion pounds in the last 12 months.

Both studies suggest that this money could be used to help with living costs, but it seems most pensioners are reluctant to use equity release or lifetime mortgages for the moment.

According to Norwich Union, some 68 per cent said that they were too attached to their home to sell, and wanted to hand it down the generations to their children - it seems the fondness for homeownership is still very much a part of UK life.