The Intermediary – March 2026 - Flipbook - Page 71
L AT E R L I F E L E N D I N G
Opinion
The market is
evolving – advisers
need to keep pace
A
s reported by the
Equity Release
Council this year, the
market continues to
demonstrate strong
underlying demand,
Recent data from Equity Release
Supermarket also reflects this as
completed cases increased from 1,122
in 2024 to 1,300 in 2025, a year-on-year
rise of 15.9%.
Behind those headline figures are
several important shis in customer
behaviour and adviser engagement
that point to a market entering its next
phase of maturity.
Opportunity for advisers in this
space is growing, but so too are the
structural pressures.
Diverse demand
Equity release has traditionally been
associated with customers looking to
unlock property wealth for a specific
financial need. Today, motivations are
becoming much more varied.
Rising household costs are
encouraging some homeowners
to access equity to maintain
their lifestyle or reduce monthly
commitments as they move into
retirement. Others who may
previously have been cautious about
raising capital against their property
are revisiting later life lending as a
viable option.
Our data has identified that
repaying residential mortgages and
funding home improvements remain
the two primary drivers, accounting
for almost half of all cases.
However, lifestyle-related
borrowing for items such as holidays
and car purchases have increased
year-on-year, while giing to
family has reduced significantly.
This suggests a subtle but important
change. Consumers are increasingly
MARK GREGORY
is CEO and founder
of Equity Release Group
viewing property wealth not simply
as a legacy asset, but as a resource that
can support their financial wellbeing
during retirement.
Advice delivery
How advice is delivered is also
evolving. Online research and
telephone-based advice now account
for the largest share of cases and
continues to grow, while traditional
face-to-face advice has declined. This
mirrors wider trends across financial
services, where digital engagement
and remote interaction are the norm.
However, it also introduces new
challenges for advisers. Delivering
exceptional equity release advice
remotely requires robust processes,
strong documentation standards and
the right technology infrastructure to
support customer understanding.
recommendations. Consumers
increasingly expect transparency
and real-time access to information.
They want to understand the impact
of borrowing decisions and explore
outcomes before commiing to advice.
For advisers, this creates both
an opportunity and a challenge.
Technology can significantly improve
efficiency, but many existing systems
used across the intermediary market
are not designed specifically for equity
release or don’t have real-time data.
As a result, advisers oen rely on
fragmented tools or manual processes
that add complexity rather than
removing it.
Regulatory expectations
An inflection point
Regulation has also increased
expectations around advice quality
and customer outcomes.
Consumer Duty has reinforced
the requirement for advisers to
demonstrate fair value, transparency
and strong evidence of suitability,
particularly when working with
vulnerable customers.
Equity release is already one of
the most carefully scrutinised areas
of the financial services sector, and
the additional focus on customer
understanding has raised the
bar further. As a result, there’s a
growing need for advisers operating
in this space to maintain deeper
product knowledge and more robust
documentation than ever before.
Our understanding of the market,
together with wider consumer and
regulatory trends, suggests the sector
is entering a new phase.
Demand is rising, customer
needs are becoming more varied
and regulatory expectations are
increasing. The Financial Consuct
Auhtority;s (FCA’s) Mortgage Rule
Review also points to a future in
which later life lending plays a more
prominent role within the market.
If the industry is to grow
responsibly, advisers will need
stronger infrastructure, specialist
training and technology designed for
the realities of later life borrowing.
The next stage of growth will not
be driven by product innovation
or consumer awareness alone. It
will depend on the strength of the
ecosystem around advisers and
whether they have the support to
deliver quality advice at scale. ●
Technology is central
Technology is also playing a key
role in how advisers research,
present and document equity release
March 2026 | The Intermediary
69
