After the challenges of recent years, it finally feels as if the tide is starting to turn. Rates are more stable, affordability has begun to improve, and advisers appear to have a significantly greater number of options than they did a year or two back.
For many, and especially when it comes to addressing client affordability, that means revisiting conversations that might have felt out of reach not so long ago, especially with older borrowers.
That’s where the next opportunity lies. Not affordability itself, but the way advisers understand and ascertain client affordability to unlock a wider range of lending options for clients in later life. Because as we move into a new phase of the mortgage market, affordability isn’t a constraint, it’s a key that opens the door to more choice.
At more2life, we’re seeing that shift first-hand via our adviser partners. More customers are looking for flexibility, for control, and for products that adapt as their lives change. And that’s what’s driving innovation in this space - lifetime mortgages that allow customers to make regular interest payments from all of the interest to as little as £50 a month, helping them manage interest costs while retaining more of their equity, and, with Interest Reward plans, securing lower rates.
That flexibility should be changing the conversation around later life borrowing. It gives advisers the ability to show clients these products are practical, affordable solutions that can sit comfortably alongside the rest of their mortgage toolkit — payment-term plans, RIOs, or mainstream PTs or remortgages. And when advisers are confident in explaining that range, they don’t just improve outcomes; they broaden the market itself.
Let’s look at an example of a potential case which taps into an increasing number of customers we’re now seeing. We can call them Pat and Mick - a couple who, like many people heading into retirement, perhaps find themselves still carrying a mortgage and worrying about how to keep up with repayments.
Between them, they might be paying £650 a month - manageable a while back, but much harder now as they have moved onto fixed incomes. By switching to a flexible lifetime mortgage, they can reduce their payments to £100 a month while keeping control of their borrowing through regular contributions.
That’s the difference an affordability assessment for a later life client could make when it’s properly understood - not as a barrier to overcome, but as a bridge to better solutions.
Even the regulator has recognised this growing need and the shift it requires. The FCA’s recent focus on the mortgage market within the Discussion Paper, and on the growing overlap between mainstream and later life lending, underlines the need for advisers to take a holistic view of affordability.
The days of treating later life lending as a separate world (I hope) are over. Advisers who assess affordability in a broader, more flexible way will find many of their clients - especially those over-55 - could benefit from products they’ve never previously considered.
Of course, that requires confidence. Not every adviser will feel ready to offer advice across the full range of later life products, and that’s fine. The key is knowing how to help your clients access the right support, whether through specialist referral partners or by upskilling yourself. Both routes are valid; both can help deliver better outcomes. Doing nothing, however, isn’t an option.
Make no mistake, this part of the market is growing. The number of older homeowners carrying mortgage debt continues to grow, product innovation has accelerated, and customers themselves are more open to solutions that give them flexibility and control. Advisers who understand affordability as a tool for inclusion and empowerment will be the ones who lead this next phase of change.
At more2life, our mission is to help advisers make those conversations easier. That means giving them the tools, education, and resources to illustrate the tangible impact of flexible payments, and to show clients how manageable regular contributions can reduce costs, preserve inheritance, and give them more financial freedom.
The potential case I outline above is just one example of what could happen when affordability is used correctly and intelligently. It’s not necessarily about borrowing more, it’s often about borrowing better. And for advisers and their clients, that shift in perspective can open up a world of possibilities.
