Half of adults believe they face a bleak retirement, with one in ten fearing they won't have enough for basic living expenses, according to a new survey by Seniors Money, one of several equity release specialists lending to retired people who use the value of their homes to supplement their income. Some 1,500 pensioners are thought to have used equity release this year.

"While many people worry about finances as they approach retirement, it's generally too late to do anything meaningful to rectify it at that stage, " said Tara Collins of Seniors Money. "With up to 90% home ownership, and average home values of more than 300,000, we predict that many pension incomes will be supplemented with equity release from property assets when it comes to providing finance in retirement."

She predicted the equity release market would grow from 150m a year to more than 1bn a year within the next decade.