The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 80
L AT E R L I F E L E N D I N G
Opinion
The blind spot
advisers can no
longer ignore
T
he latest UK Finance
lending data should
make every lender,
product provider and
intermediary dealing
with older customers
stop and think. While hundreds of
thousands of borrowers aged 55 and
over continue to take out residential
mortgages, only a small proportion
are accessing lifetime mortgages or
other specialist later life products.
Are all these existing customers
ending up in the most suitable
solution for their circumstances, or
are many simply receiving advice
from the part of the market an adviser
knows best? Also, with circa £4tn of
unencumbered equity in the hands
of the over-55s, are we successfully
engaging all those customers for
whom accessing property wealth
could support a more comfortable
or fulfilling retirement – or are
many simply unaware of the options
available to them?
The UK has a significant later life
lending advice gap. Despite an ageing
population, increasing numbers of
people carrying mortgage debt into
retirement, people being under-saved
into pensions and ongoing pressure
on household finances, specialist
later life lending remains outside
the core proposition of many advice
businesses. For customers, that can
mean potentially missing out on
solutions that beer align with their
needs, objectives and long-term
financial wellbeing.
Retirement has changed
Today’s clients are living longer – oen
with expensive care requirements
– working differently and entering
retirement with increasingly complex
financial arrangements, and many
continue to service a mortgage
78
The Intermediary | September 2026
well beyond their mid-50s. Others
carry unsecured debt, have pension
savings that may not stretch, or are
helping children and grandchildren
financially while also managing their
own retirement needs.
At the same time, housing wealth
has become one of the largest assets
held by many older homeowners. For
a growing number, the question is no
longer whether property wealth will
play a role in retirement planning, but
how and when it should be used.
Yet oen, advice remains siloed
– pensions and mortgages remain
unconnected, and in the mortgage
space, the conversation typically
remains centred on conventional
borrowing options, product transfers
or remortgages. Those solutions may
well be appropriate, but suitability
can only truly be determined when all
avenues are considered.
One of the biggest barriers to
achieving this is the way our industry
remains organised, given that around
35,000 UK advisers hold mortgage
permissions, yet only a fraction are
qualified to advise on equity release
products. Fewer actively recommend
lifetime mortgages on a regular basis.
Consumers deserve to know what
options are available. Currently, the
outcome is determined by the loery
as to through which distribution
channel they happen to enter the
market – this must change.
Better outcomes
The case for expanding later life
lending conversations is not solely
about addressing consumer need. It
represents a significant commercial
opportunity, given that the population
is ageing, housing wealth continues
to grow in importance and the need
for specialist retirement funding
solutions is increasing.
WILL HALE
is CEO at Air
Advisers can position themselves to
serve clients throughout their entire
financial journey rather than risk
losing them when their needs become
more specialised. These conversations
oen unlock wider planning
opportunities around retirement
income, inheritance planning, debt
management and intergenerational
wealth transfer.
In an increasingly competitive
advice market, where purely
transactional business is being
squeezed by direct execution only
models, being able to support clients
with these complex later life decisions
can strengthen relationships, boost
margins and improve retention.
The good news is that advisers don’t
need to become experts overnight.
What maers is creating a process
that ensures the options are identified,
considered and discussed where
relevant – up to, and including,
referring to a trusted specialist partner
where appropriate. The greatest
risk is not recommending a lifetime
mortgage – rather, the greatest risk is
failing to recognise when one should
have been considered.
As the regulator consults on holistic
advice and continues to focus on
customer outcomes and the industry
prepares for the needs of an ageing
society, later life lending products,
including lifetime mortgages, have an
increasingly important role to play.
You don’t have to write every case
or be a specialist in every product.
However, you do need to ensure clients
have access to the full range of options.
As we oen say at Air: write it, refer
it, just don’t ignore it. ●
