When asked how the sector could sustain innovation, Les Pick, head of sales, equity release at Canada Life, said there had already been “so much” done in the market.
Pick (pictured) added: “With the flexibility that exists, the safeguards that are there, the low interest rates that we see, it’s hard to see how it can get better.”
However, he said an increase of loan to value (LTV) limits and opening up to those with interest-only mortgages who need more capital than they could otherwise raise would improve options available.
Hybrid product
He added: “Retirement interest-only (RIO) does that but if they don’t have that income readily available on first death then it’s whether we can, as a sector, design some kind of hybrid product that gets those LTVs up but has that requirement to pay the interest in the early years.
“I think that’s the piece of innovation, that’s the missing piece of the jigsaw we probably need to try and find.”
Pick said otherwise, the later life market had done a “phenomenal job” at creating a flexible offering.
Bridging the later life and mainstream markets
Alison Pallett, sales director at Livemore Capital said, to move the later life market onto the next level, it needed to come together with the mainstream mortgage market.
“It’s quite clear we need to make real inroads into the mainstream side of the market,” she said.
Pallett added: “One of the ways we’re going to do that is around education, talking much more about this. Helping people to understand more about the types of products and financial planning that are available to them. And just really increasing brokers knowledge around it all, the media getting behind it and everyone just talking more about the market.
“From that, that naturally breeds innovation because people start to ask more questions. The more people who are engaged in the process the better thinking that comes from it.”
You can register to watch the Later Life Lending Online Event here: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/events/later-life-lending-event/venues/register-online/
Presentations will be available to watch for 30 days.
