Senior executives from across the mortgage, wealth management and later life lending sectors have called for advisers to break down longstanding ‘advice silos’, arguing that greater consideration of property wealth and later life lending products could significantly improve customer outcomes.

Speaking at a summit hosted by Air, a membership-based platform for later life lending professionals, industry figures pointed out the disparity between the wider later life lending market, worth around £60bn annually, and the equity release sector, which accounts for just £2.6bn. Participants agreed that products such as lifetime mortgages and retirement interest-only loans remain underutilised despite growing demand from older borrowers.

Nick Birdseye, strategic partner development director at Legal & General, said many advisers lack the permissions to recommend lifetime mortgages, limiting customer choice. “Once you get to 55, your available product landscape broadens significantly because all of the lifetime manufactured products come into play. However, I'm not sure how often they are being considered across the broader mortgage market.”

Ronnell Reffell, acting principal mortgage policy at UK Finance, pointed to changing borrowing patterns among older consumers. “People are buying later, they're borrowing for longer and they're also considering mortgage debt further into later life,” he said.

According to UK Finance data, more than 40,000, new mortgages were taken by the over-55s in Q4 2025.

Stephanie Charman, CEO of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, said advisers should be willing to refer clients when specialist expertise is required. “If it's not within your wheelhouse of advice, you need to signpost and refer accordingly.”

Roland Whyte, CEO of Nokkel, argued that housing wealth should play a much larger role in retirement planning. “The home can no longer be overlooked in any decumulation strategy,” he said, identifying technology's role in integrating property wealth into broader financial planning.

Will Hale, CEO of Air, said momentum is building as mainstream advisers become more engaged with the sector. “A lot of the mainstream advisers or wealth managers I speak to clearly want to engage with the sector. That’s a real positive because too often the lifetime mortgage sector has been talking in a bit of an echo chamber.”

The calls come as the FCA continues its Later Life Mortgage Market Study, which is examining whether specialist products such as lifetime mortgages and retirement interest-only loans could play a greater role in supporting financial security in later life. Initial findings from the regulator's exploratory work are expected by the end of 2026.

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