The lender, which entered the retirement interest-only market earlier this week, will direct any existing or new customers with equity release or later-life lending queries to Key.
Key Partnerships said it had seen a 46% increase in adviser enquiries in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.
Buckinghamshire head of lending Tim Vigeon said: “We know that borrowing when you are older is a decision that needs to be considered carefully.
“Increasingly customers are looking at borrowing in later life and this partnership means any customer who enquires about equity release or has been identified as potentially benefitting from this option can be referred onto Key’s independent specialist advisers.”
Head of Key Partnerships Jason Ruse added: “The interest in the equity release market is growing rapidly.
“We are seeing increasing numbers of consumers trying to access independent regulated advice about equity release products as they consider their later life lending needs.”
Misconceptions continue
The deal was announced the same week as research from Moneyfacts found the vast majority of older people were willing to take out an equity release product without consulting an adviser.
Its survey found that two-thirds of consumers believed they had a clear understanding of lifetime mortgages, as more than two in five felt they could handle the market without advice.
Most notably, more than a quarter of those surveyed by the site said they would not trust an adviser and around one in 10 thought advice would be too expensive.
However, Retirement Advantage head of product and marketing Alice Watson believes the results show there are still misconceptions about how the market works.
“The findings in this research are a surprise. The equity release market has grown and evolved in recent years and yet a number of misconceptions still remain,” she said.
“The biggest barrier to equity release appears to be a perceived negative impact on inheritance plans. However, the breadth of products available now means that customers can mitigate, or even stop, the impact of compound interest roll-up.
“Customers can also choose a capital and interest repayment option, and pay off the loan over a shorter duration if they wish. These options offer customers the opportunity to protect their estate for future inheritance.”
She added that given the wide variety of products now available, and some of the misconceptions that remained, financial advice was vital to ensure equity release was suitable for individual customers’ needs.
