Speaking at the Equity Release Summit, Thompson also noted that the product was becoming more needs-based including essential home modifications or debt clearing.
“The scale of the market is a very interesting one, for all the reasons I think it was a very good customer product but it was a very difficult one to fund,” he said.
“We found pre-credit crunch and the immediate aftermath there wasn’t much funding in the market and that kept it at quite a small level.
“What’s happened since Solvency II is it became clearer that insurance and pensions companies could come in. So now there is really no cap on funding and the potential for it to become larger very quickly to address some of the bigger concerns is possible.”
Thompson highlighted that income products were being introduced and this could help in funding retirement.
“It is becoming much more of a needs-based product, it isn’t necessarily a luxury, it is someone repairing a leaky roof or a new boiler or a wet room downstairs or something along those lines, so that’s changing,” he continued.
“More people are using it to pay off debt and it is being used more for accelerated inheritance.”
