Brokers plan to advise or refer later life and equity release products

The majority of brokers surveyed by Legal & General say they either currently recommend or would recommend later life lending or equity release products in the coming year. 

Some 74% of brokers taking part in the firm's research indicated they recommend these products at a time when demand for equity release products is extremely high. 

According to the Equity Release Council, approximately £1.61 billion was released from homes last year, an increase from £29m in 1992. 

Support for these products varies across the country, however. In both Manchester and London, a much smaller proportion of brokers say that they plan to offer later life lending or equity release products. 

The release of these figures comes off the back of calls from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) for increased later life regulatory reform. 

The CML argues that it is becoming increasingly important to provide products that cater to the older generation whilst also offering financial advice. 

It has claimed that these two areas have been separated for too long, which makes it much harder for customers and brokers to purchase and sell later life lending or equity release products.

“With the rise in popularity of lifetime mortgages and other retirement lending products, it is really encouraging to see that a growing number of brokers are recommending these products as a means of funding retirement,” says Jeremy Duncombe, Director, Legal & General Mortgage Club.

“The task now is to ensure that more advisers are playing their part in offering holistic retirement advice for our ageing population. Achieving this goal will require brokers to provide expert advice and recommend retirement lending solutions to a growing number of customers, so that they can get the most out of later life.”