74% of brokers either currently recommend or would recommend later life lending or equity release products in the coming year, according to research by Legal & General.

Around £1.61 billion equity was released from homes last year, an increase from £29m in 1992, according to the Equity Release Council.

Support for these products varies across the country, however. In both Manchester and London, a much smaller proportion of brokers say that they plan to offer later life lending or equity release products.

The release of these figures comes off the back of calls from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) for increased later life regulatory reform. The CML argues that it is becoming increasingly important to provide products that cater to the older generation whilst also offering financial advice. The CML has said that these two areas have been separated for too long, which makes it much harder for customers and brokers to purchase and sell later life lending or equity release products.

Legal & General has advocated for later life lending by launching its own Later Life Lending Hub in early 2016. The Hub enables Legal & General Mortgage Club members to offer a holistic service to customers who are progressing through the later life mortgage journey, whether direct to lender or via a master broker.

Jeremy Duncombe (pictured), director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “With more and more of us approaching retirement, and often without the necessary funds to support later life, many borrowers are now choosing to make use of their most important asset to fund their retirement: their property.

“With the rise in popularity of lifetime mortgages and other retirement lending products, it is really encouraging to see that a growing number of brokers are recommending these products as a means of funding retirement.

“The task now is to ensure that more advisers are playing their part in offering holistic retirement advice for our ageing population. Achieving this goal will require brokers to provide expert advice and recommend retirement lending solutions to a growing number of customers, so that they can get the most out of later life. Our Hub is a great place to start.”