Responsible Lending has received full approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is set to launch into the market, offering an range of equity release products.

It will offer a range of lifetime mortgage products for homeowners aged 55 and over, which will be sold through equity release qualified financial advisers and mortgage brokers.

Responsible Lending has three target markets:

• Traditional equity release customers – those homeowners looking to take advantage of their growing property wealth to live the lifestyle they want
• Mortgage prisoners – those aged 55+ who are trapped in the wrong mortgage as a result of the tightening up of lending into retirement since the Mortgage Market Review
• Defined contribution pensioners – those looking to supplement their state and personal pension incomes

Keith Haggart has been appointed as managing director of Responsible Lending. He was managing director of lifetime mortgages at Prudential and director of lifetime mortgages at Just Retirement. He was also a former director of Safe Home Income Plans, now the Equity Release Council.

Haggart said: “Responsible Lending was founded because we identified a space in the equity market for an innovative lender that focuses on the issues faced by those aged 55 and over. We believe we’ve built an exceptional lending platform and our highly experienced management team has designed products that take into account extensive market research on what our customers actually want to create a later life lending solution.

“Recent regulation swings have made it financially tougher than ever for those in later life. Legislating for more pension freedoms was the right thing to do but it has left many wary of running out of money in retirement. This fear has affected lifestyles alongside savings and spending habits. If pension freedoms weren’t difficult enough to manage in retirement, there is the added complication of many requiring a mortgage into later life.

“The mortgage market has some fundamental flaws when viewing customers in retirement, which we are seeking to address with our products. We have looked at the wider regulation and economic landscape and designed a range of products that hand the power over the wealth in their property back to our customers.”