Legal & General is introducing a Premier Flexible lifetime mortgage at 4.99% AER.

The deal is a drawdown lifetime mortgage that enables borrowers whose homes are worth more than £533,000 to release a portion of the wealth stored in their property, subject to a minimum loan amount of £200,000.

Bernie Hickman, managing director, individual retirement at Legal & General, said: “Legal & General’s focus is to continue to drive better value for a broad range of consumers who are considering releasing equity from their homes to improve their retirement for the better.

“The introduction of Premier Flexible Lifetime Mortgage to the Legal & General range brings the lowest interest rate below the psychologically important 5% level for the first time and, as such marks an important milestone in our commitment to growing the retirement lending market in the UK.”

“Legal & General is developing lifetime mortgage offerings at below 5% interest rate and this type of development could be a genuine game-changer for our sector,” said Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council.

“Product innovation of this sort – together with the industry standards – will further mainstream equity release in 55+ financial planning.”