Mortgage advisers will be encouraged to consider how longer borrowing lives and increasingly complex customer circumstances are changing the boundaries between mainstream mortgages and later life lending at an industry summit in Leeds next month.
The Equity Release Council and Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) will hold the Later Life Lending Summit North at Headingley Stadium on 17 November, bringing together advisers from across the mortgage market.
The programme will focus on how advisers can identify customers whose circumstances require expertise or products outside their own proposition, and when it may be appropriate to refer them to another specialist.
WIDER ADVICE LANDSCAPE
Sessions will examine the growing overlap between mainstream mortgage borrowing, later life lending and retirement planning as customers live longer, retire later and continue borrowing at older ages.
The event will consider the FCA’s description of property wealth as a potential “fourth pillar” of retirement and when housing wealth should form part of conversations about retirement finances.
An interactive session based on customer scenarios will examine the wider later life lending toolkit and the choices advisers face over whether to advise, explore a customer’s circumstances further or refer the case.
The Equity Release Council will also present findings from its work reviewing customer journeys and advice standards.
CARE AND VULNERABILITY
Customer vulnerability will form another part of the programme, with sessions covering cognitive change and dementia as well as scams, coercion and undue influence.
The Council will use the event to launch its Safe Steps for Care Conversations framework, which is intended to help advisers introduce the subject of future care into wider later life discussions.
Other sessions will consider the skills and qualifications advisers may require as the market develops, the potential role of AI in supporting advice and how changing housing requirements in later life can affect customers’ financial needs.
Jim Boyd, chief executive of the Equity Release Council, said: “The later life lending market is changing, but more importantly, so is the customer. People are living longer, borrowing later and making decisions about their mortgage, property, retirement and family that do not always fit neatly within traditional product boundaries.
“This is not about expecting every adviser to become an expert in everything. It is about ensuring advisers have the knowledge and confidence to recognise when a customer may need something different and know where to turn next.
“The Later Life Lending Summit North is designed around those real customer conversations, bringing together advisers from across the mortgage market to build competence, confidence and ultimately deliver better outcomes.”
Stephanie Charman, chief executive of AMI, added: “Later life lending can no longer be viewed as a specialist corner of the mortgage market. Longer mortgage terms, later retirement and changing patterns of home ownership mean advisers across the market will increasingly encounter customers whose borrowing needs extend into later life.
“That does not mean every adviser needs to offer every solution. But they do need to understand the wider landscape, recognise when a customer’s circumstances require a different approach and have the confidence to explore the options or refer to someone who can help.
“As our customers change, the advice profession has to evolve with them. The Later Life Lending Summit North gives advisers the opportunity to build the knowledge, connections and confidence they will need to support customers throughout a much longer and increasingly complex borrowing journey.”
