Later life mortgage broker Responsible Life has broken through the £50 million monthly lending milestone for the first time.

The company, founded in 2010, wrote a record £54.1 million in agreed lending in September.

This means the total amount of lending agreed by the firm has doubled since the start of the pandemic and represents a 59.6% increase compared to the same month last year.

Responsible Life revealed how lifetime mortgage customers had netted an average 41% interest rate cut in five years — saving them over £10bn.

In October, the company’s analysis of further statistics obtained from the FCA revealed that the number of equity release customers switching (rebroking) to a better deal had collapsed in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year.

Steve Wilkie, executive chairman of Responsible Group, said: “Reaching this milestone is a sign of just how strongly the lifetime mortgage market has bounced back since the early days of the pandemic.

“The later life arena is witnessing a concerted shift in favour of lifetime mortgages as increasing numbers of retirees incorporate them into their inheritance and income planning.

“The greater availability of products with drawdown, which provide immense flexibility, is only accelerating this trend. Growing interest in lifetime mortgages shows that customers are tuned into the way they have evolved and rates have dropped.”