Equity release is seeing rocketing demand, as the UK's squeezed middle turns to the value locked away in their homes to make up for pension shortfalls.

As a result of an ageing population, families and households are finding that they cannot afford to rely on state pensions alone to fund their retirement.

And a new survey of independent advisers suggests they expect to see growing interest in equity release schemes, as people look towards alternative methods of financing in later life, the FT Adviser reports.

The research, by LV=, indicated that 98 per cent of advisers believe the popularity of equity release schemes will grow significantly as they are used to plug pension shortfalls.

Nearly a third (30 per cent) also expressed the belief that more people are turning to equity release as a way of coping with rising debt levels in retirement.

Beyond financial constraints, releasing cash from your home is also a popular way of funding home improvements, with one in ten advisers expecting this to become a more common practice in the future.

There are two main types of equity release: a lifetime mortgage secured against the value of your home or a home reversion plan, which lets you sell part of your home in exchange for a lump sum.