Jim Boyd, CEO of the Equity Release Council, comments on the UK Finance Later Life Lending Statistics, the full comment can be seen below:
“The UK Finance Q1 2025 figures highlights that 7.6% of residential loans taken out in the first three months of the year were by borrowers who were over-55. The market is moving swiftly from niche to mainstream with increasing numbers of older customers relying on advisers to help them navigate their various options which include equity release, retirement interest-only mortgages and later life mortgages.
However, while the rise in equity release borrowing echoes the Council’s own Q1 figures, there is certainly scope for more growth as half (51%) of UK households are expected to need to use housing wealth to support their spending needs in retirement. The recently released Fairer Finance report suggested that if we overcome some of the barriers facing the later life lending market, we might see £21 billion injected into our economy each year from 2040, in today’s prices.
This is substantially larger than the £6.2bn borrowed in Q1 2025 but highlights the potential for this market. Potential which we hope will be further explored as part of the FCA’s public discussion into lending into later life which is due to be launched before the end of Q2.”
