Back in January, a formation committee was set up to create a blueprint for the new trade body, headed up by ex-AIFA director general Paul Smee, who has subsequently been appointed director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Stakeholders including intermediaries, providers, representative bodies, not-for profit organisations and legal services firms have all been consulted on the process, which was due to report back at the end of Q3.
MS has confirmed the committee will report back in late September, early October now, but conducted its own straw poll of equity release specialists on key priorities for the new trade body.
Simon Chalk, chairman of the Society of Equity Release Advisers, said:
“I would like to see a strong, positive message about equity release so consumers understand it’s not a dangerous product or lending of last resort.
“There is still a bit of a stigma attached to equity release and the consumers who choose not to use it are the ones who simply don’t understand it. Some of them still believe it’s selling the family silver but it’s not, it’s actually a financial planning tool.
“I would like to see SHIP develop a strong, cleverly marketed message that is about enabling people to do things they have to do or wish to do in later life.”
Robert Brennan, director of equity release provider The Right Equity Release, said:
“Personally, I would like to see SHIP go down the route of having accredited advisers because there are too many people that dabble in the industry and don’t know what they’re doing. Getting advisers to take exams could be one way to achieve this. However, anyone can sit an exam so it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good at what they do in this market place.
“I think SHIP needs to find a way to help bring qualified and experienced equity release advisers to the forefront of the market and ensure that it’s these people who are advising clients.”
Mark Gregory, independent financial adviser at Equity Release Supermarket, said:
“We’ve seen a growing demand for flexible retirement solutions on the back of the Halifax retirement home plan, which was marketed as an alternative to equity release and aimed at people over 65. Diversified products such as these will have an increasingly viable role in the future, particularly as the baby boomer generation approaches.
“Currently equity release lenders only cater for a segment of the retired population, so I would like to see SHIP work closely with mortgage and equity release companies offer a greater variety of equity release plans.
“It would be great to see SHIP work in conjunction with the long term care market or interest-only lifetime mortgage market to help promote these causes.”
Clive Balchin, director of IFA firm John Trickett & Son, said:
“Benefits and how they interract with equity release is such a grey area. I wish SHIP would take a definitive lead on an industry approved way of calculating benefits and their effect on equity release products.
“People are still very wary of equity release. In some cases, there are solicitors who don’t understand the product and will then try to talk people out of it, so SHIP should not only monitor the market but also become an educator.”
Peter Couch, managing director of Bridgewater Equity Release, said:
“One of the limitations of SHIP is that it’s made up of product providers. We have loads of different parties in the sector from legal advisers, to financial advisers, valuers and consultants.
“I think one issue that has probably held back equity release from going forward is that some of the stakeholders such as the government, consumer groups and even customers themselves, don’t have one consolidated place to collect information and make enquiries.
“SHIP has tried to change that but I would like it to take it to the next level and identify those parties who want to join, work out how those groups would be set up and what roles everyone would have.”
