Who attended the Later Life Lending Event and what was discussed?
The fourth annual Later Life Lending Event 2024 took place on 23 January at the Hilton Bankside. It brought together over 100 attendees from high street banks, building societies and specialist equity release providers and advisers.
It comes as the later life lending industry continues to evolve to meet the diverse wants and needs of today’s homeowners. This has seen new and innovative products come to this rapidly expanding market over the past decade to meet growing demand.
The event, hosted by Anna Sagar from Mortgage Solutions, saw industry experts discuss the latest trends and advances, together with key market issues such as affordability. They also considered new ways to incorporate later life lending products into a more modern retirement journey and reach a wider customer base.
Andrew Gilbert, products director of Legal and General Home Finance talked about how the later life lending market already appears more optimistic this year. He noted the falls in prices due to expected gilt rate drops, together with higher loan to values (LTV) slowly returning to the market.
He also explained that since October, gilt rates peaked at around five per cent, but came down by around 100 basis points by mid-January.
“I think we started the year in a really good position. We’ve seen quite buoyant business from advisers and we’ve seen rates that are very competitive,” he said.
Affordability was also an important topic. Specifically, the importance of conversations between advisers and customers around how much they can afford in terms of interest payment products.
Speaking at the event, Paul Glynn, Air CEO, predicted a trend for more customers choosing to make mandatory payments on their lifetime mortgages: “Either those products will have a lower interest rate or they’ll have a higher loan to value (LTV).”
He went on to explain that if advisers have extended conversations about affordability, then: “Customers who couldn’t find a product are now going to – at least if they can make payments – have some more options open to them.”
The Equity Release Council’s CEO, Jim Boyd was also in attendance to chair a panel session at this years’ conference. He discussed how the rapidly evolving market is influencing regulatory perspectives and industry standards. He was also interviewed by Air Chair, Stuart Wilson, about the role of the Council in growing the later life sector.
The next Later Life Lending Event is due to take place on 23 January 2025.
