The market needs to raise awareness about retirement lending if it wants the lifetime mortgages sector to grow. At present, many advisers don’t have the necessary equity release qualification, but that should not stop them from introducing their clients to lifetime mortgages and referring them onto a specialist advisory firm should the client want to explore this option further.
Advisers need to ensure they raise lifetime mortgages as an option at the pre-, at-, and in –retirement stages of any financial planning conversations. All retirement options need to be fully considered, and financial planners need to advise on all aspects of retirement, from tax planning to lifestyle choices.
Stuart Wilson, Channel Marketing Director at more 2 life, commented:
“This is an exciting time for the lifetime lending sector as we get ready to exceed the £2 billion mark this year. We are currently in a fantastic position, with the sector growing and developing at a fast pace with new entrants and product innovation coming to market. We have both the supply and demand for equity release, but not the adviser numbers needed to support the tripling of the market size, which is what we expect to happen by 2020.
“Lenders and funders are important, but so are the specialist advisers who serve this market. We will not be able to grow the sector without them, but also can’t ensure that consumers are receiving the best outcome in their retirement.
“It will be no surprise to see residential mortgage and pension advisers moving into equity release, as this feels like an obvious add-on to their existing advice process. However, we would urge advisers from any background to consider whether specialising in equity release advice could be the next step in the development of their practice, so that we can secure a significant increase in adviser numbers before the year is out.”
