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Older motorists favouring car leasing over purchase

Lease or buy
Lease or buy

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November 23, 2018

  • Hippo Leasing has seen a 388% increase in enquiries from the over 65s
  • Leasing enquiries up for all age groups, except the 18-24s

OLDER motorists are switching onto the benefits of car leasing over purchasing.

That’s according to some research from Hippo Leasing, the Blackburn based broker.

According to DVLA data, the over 60s make up a significant proportion of the UK’s driving population (approximately 11.7 million people) and this number is set to continue growing as the nation’s population ages.

In fact, since 2012 the number of over 60s with a full UK driving licence has increased by 16.64 percent, equating to nearly 1.7 million more licence holders, reports Hippo Leasing.

Year No. of UK drivers over 60 YoY % difference
2012 10,071,370
2013 10,334,444 +2.6%
2014 10,392,698 +0.6%
2015 10,818,892 +4.1%
2016 10,916,280 +0.9%
2017 11,568,765 +6.0%
2018 11,747,383 +1.5%

 

Surprisingly, DVLA data also shows there are currently nearly 300 people over the age of 100 who hold full UK driving licences. This figure has almost doubled from 162 people in 2012.

So, when it comes to finding a car, which do older drivers prefer – purchasing or leasing?

Hippo Leasing analysed internal enquiry data to uncover the demographics of car leasing, to see which age groups favour leasing instead of buying a car outright.

  2016 2017 2018 2016-2018
Age Group % of Enquiries % of Enquiries % of Enquiries % Difference
18-24 14.70 13.18 8.87 -12.05%
25-34 34.67 34.40 28.73 +21.8%
35-44 26.14 26.49 24.99 +40.9%
45-54 17.45 16.46 20.77 +73.0%
55-64 5.26 6.91 10.72 +200%
65+ 1.78 2.57 5.90 +388%

 

Hippo Leasing says the results show leasing enquiries from the two oldest age groups – 55-64 and 65+ – have grown exponentially over the past three years, up 200 and 388 percent respectively.

This is in sharp comparison to the 18-24 age group which saw a drop of 12.05 percent in enquiries, suggesting young drivers prefer purchasing their first car.

Across all other age groups, leasing enquiries have grown steadily year-on-year, supporting the latest findings from the BVRLA that the personal car leasing sector is booming, up 14% in the past year alone.

Tom Preston, Managing Director of Hippo Leasing commented:

“By 2066, the ONS predicts the over 65s will make up over a quarter of the UK’s total population (20.4 million people). This represents a huge commercial opportunity for the motoring industry.

“It’s encouraging to see enquiries from the over 65s have grown at such a high rate year-on-year. There is no legal age limit on personal leasing contracts, so as long as a driver holds a full UK driving licence and passes the appropriate credit checks, a leasing agreement can offer a flexible, affordable and efficient way to drive.”

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Nick Sharpe

Nick Sharpe

Nick Sharpe is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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