Later life lending market increases

February 4, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

CeRER

The later life lending market saw significant growth last year, and many mortgage advisors believe that will continue to be the case in 2026.

This segment of the market expanded by 11% last year, which took its lending total for that 12 months to £2.57 billion. The total for the year before was £2.3 billion. Those figures are taken from data that was put out by the Equity Release Council and that organisation also sought the thoughts of advisors.

They were asked what their equity release clients were planning to use that money for. 26% of advisors stated that their clients had sought equity release to help them with existing mortgage repayments. That adds up to just over a quarter of them and makes this the single biggest usage cited by advisors.

Other uses were placed under the umbrella term ‘positive purposes’. When it comes to them, 21% of advisors said clients wanted the money for renovating their properties. 13% said it was needed for family gifting, while 6% said holidays and 4% said large purchases like cars.

The Equity Release Council also asked advisors if they thought that part of the market would continue to grow this year. In response, 80% said they expected that to be the case, with just 2% forecasting a contraction. The majority of advisors said that they thought demand among clients for equity release products would grow too.

All reputable mortgage advisors have the CeMAP qualification, but more may be looking to get the CeRER one too, so they can capitalise on equity release growth.