New review raises questions about access, value, and consumer outcomes
The Financial Conduct Authority will participate in the Equity Release Council’s Later Life Lending Summit in Bristol on April 22, as the sector prepares to respond to the regulator’s newly launched Later Life Mortgages Market Study.
According to a news release, Thomas Francis, manager of the FCA’s mortgage policy team and leader of its Mortgage Rule Review, will take part in a dedicated regulatory session at the event, which is being delivered in collaboration with the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI).
The summit follows the FCA’s publication of its Terms of Reference for the market study, which sets out a review of how the market is working for consumers. The study, running throughout 2026, focuses on consumer understanding, advice quality, product suitability and fair value, as well as barriers to access and innovation.
The FCA said people may increasingly need to rely on housing wealth later in life for financial security, and that lifetime and retirement interest-only mortgages could play a greater role.
The regulator is inviting all stakeholders to share their views on the issues set out in the Terms of Reference by 17 April and expects to publish a progress update and proposed next steps by the end of 2026.
The regulatory backdrop comes as the equity release market records sustained growth. Total lending across the UK’s equity release market reached £2.57bn in 2025, up from £2.3bn in 2024 – an 11% year-on-year increase, according to the Equity Release Council. Jim Boyd, the Council’s chief executive, said at the time that the growth “underlines the increasingly important role housing wealth is playing in supporting financial resilience and choice in later life.”
Shift towards holistic finance
The event is designed to support advisers already active in the sector, as well as those looking to expand into later life lending, with sessions covering economic insight, product innovation, and customer care under the Council’s Safe Steps framework. A central theme will be the need for a more holistic approach to customers’ finances, as property wealth, pensions, and other assets become increasingly interconnected.
Boyd said the market study was “a significant and welcome moment” for the sector. “It reflects the growing importance of later life lending within the wider retirement landscape but also challenges us to continue raising standards,” he said. “Our Bristol summit provides a timely and important opportunity for open and constructive dialogue with industry leaders, advisers, and our regulator on how we deliver better consumer understanding, stronger advice, and consistently good outcomes to support a growing later life market.”
Stephanie Charman, chief executive of AMI, said engaging directly with the FCA at this stage offered “an invaluable opportunity to shape industry practice and raise standards across the market”. She added that as advisers guide customers through increasingly complex later life financial decisions, “their role has never been more critical”.
The Bristol summit forms part of a broader collaboration between the Equity Release Council and AMI to support the sector’s transition from niche to mainstream. The Council’s remit was broadened in December 2025 to cover all forms of later life lending within the regulated mortgage environment.
