The number of equity release products has hit a new high, with borrowers able to choose from 769 products, said Key Partnerships.

The equity release business said lifetime mortgage numbers have doubled in the last two years alone.

As well as more products, equity release borrowers have a greater choice of how they access their property wealth, with product innovation making the market more flexible.

Product innovation

The number of plans on the market offering downsizing protection has quadrupled while those that allow ad-hoc, fee-free repayments has tripled over the same period.

There are also deals that allow borrowers to drawdown what they need when they need it, as well as a growing number of mortgages with fixed early repayment charges.

Sponsored

Jason Ruse, business development director at Key Group, said: “The growth in the equity release market has been remarkable with the number of products available doubling in just two years which provides significantly more flexibility and options for clients. The number of features has also boomed with over 300% more products offering options such as interest repayments, downsizing protection and inheritance protection.

“Things are changing fast at the moment and in just six months, we saw 21% more products. One of the reasons for this is that the majority of customers during the pandemic have released equity due to an immediate need, but as the UK edges closer to less restrictions we will see clients releasing equity to fulfil both retirement as well as aspirational needs.”