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Equity release could be a £5bn per year market – Sinclair
Equity release lending levels are likely to increase considerably over the course of this decade, with the potential to reach £5bn a year, AMI’s Robert Sinclair says.
Chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), Robert Sinclair (pictured), said to delegates at FSE London that the equity release market’s ‘time had come’ and predicted bigger lenders would begin to enter the market soon.
“I can see equity release being a £5bn per year market before the end of the decade,” he said.
“I’ve often said equity release’s time will come and I think we’ve reached that point. We will see certainly see bigger lending names coming into the market.”
However, Sinclair expressed disappointment in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) negative view of the industry.
“With independent advisers, independent solicitors, I see this business as one of the safest places in the market,” he said.
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Discussing the FCA’s recent market review of mortgage advice, Sinclair said the text on networks was ‘the most emotive part of the report’.
“When the FCA talk to networks there’s a mismatch between those who have the responsibility for the network and the consumer. Network heads have the responsibility for the advice given to the customer, not the principal of the AR firm. At the moment they’ve been delegating that responsibility down.”