Lenders and platforms urge FCA action as Q3 data exposes how rarely advisers raise equity release with older clients
The UK equity release market’s Q3 2026 figures have reignited a long-running debate. Are mortgage advisers doing enough for clients over 55?
Total lending reached £591 million last quarter — down 1% on Q2 and 7% year on year. The numbers are steady, but steady is not the same as sufficient. For several senior figures in the later life sector, the data points to a structural failure in how advisers approach older borrowers.
Dave Harris, chief executive of specialist over-55s mortgage lender more2life, argues that the market’s resilience actually strengthens the case for regulatory intervention. “Millions of homeowners are asset-rich but cash-poor, yet too many advisers still aren’t talking to their clients about putting the equity in their home to work,” he said. “As a result, many who could benefit from unlocking their property wealth miss out.”
Harris’s call is specific: make later life lending conversations mandatory for every client aged 55 and over. “Every client should be made aware of the full range of options available to them, whether that’s a retirement interest-only mortgage, a lifetime mortgage or another solution entirely,” he said.
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Are advisers confusing affordability with suitability?
Will Hale, chief executive of Air, a later life lending platform, goes further. He argues the problem is not product quality or market conditions — it is an advisory culture that defaults to the familiar.
“Advisers continue to confuse affordability with suitability, failing to look holistically at a customer’s financial circumstances and lifestyle objectives,” he said. “A different perspective around advising on the use of property wealth and the application of specialist later life lending products, such as modern lifetime mortgages, could see benefits to a customer’s retirement income or even open up efficient ways to facilitate intergenerational wealth transfer plans.”
Too many older homeowners are missing the products best suited to them. The growing advice gap between equity release specialists and mainstream mortgage advisers is a key part of why. Hale’s point cuts to a related problem. Even when advisers engage with older clients, those clients are rarely made aware of the full range of options.
His message: “write, refer, just don’t ignore.”
Regulatory scrutiny is reshaping the equity release advice conversation
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched its Later Life Mortgages Market Study (MS26/1) in March 2026. It is examining advice quality, consumer understanding, and access barriers. Initial findings are expected before the end of the year. Outdated associations — compounding debt, loss of ownership, limited flexibility — still shape how many clients approach initial conversations about later life products. Debunking those myths, and doing so at the point of advice, is now an active regulatory concern.
Simon Webb, managing director of capital markets and finance at LiveMore, sees the Q3 data as evidence of unmet need rather than weak demand. “Holistic advice that considers broader concerns over wealth, retirement and mortgage planning is more vital than ever,” he said. “Consumer need is clearly not going away and we need to match those needs with the options that are right for them, including a broad range of later life lending products.”
The Q3 2026 Equity Release Council data shows a market holding its footing, but the commentary around it tells a more urgent story. Equity release products are more flexible today than they have ever been, Harris noted — but awareness remains the real barrier.
As the FCA prepares to publish its findings, the conversation about equity release is no longer up to specialists. Advisers should be part of the discourse too.
