Standard Life has entered into a new strategic agreement with Key Group in a move that will see the launch of a lifetime mortgage range branded Standard Life Home Finance.

The products, which will be provided by Key Group and use its platforms, will aim to provide over-55 customers with more choice and flexibility to meet their financial needs in later life.

The range will gradually roll out to advisers from October this year when full product details will become available, and Standard Life revealed an aim for them to be readily available to all advisers by the end of this year.

Standard Life is part of Phoenix Group, the largest long-term savings and retirement company in the UK, which has been an active funder in the equity release market for the last five years. Phoenix has grown to be among the largest funders in the market and is a member of the Equity Release Council.

“We’re extremely pleased to be partnering with the specialists at Key Group who will launch a new range of Standard Life Home Finance branded equity release products to advisers,” commented Standard Life managing director retirement solutions, Tom Ground.

“A growing number of people are retiring with mortgage debt and find themselves using their pension savings to pay off their mortgages. Lifetime mortgages provide them with more options and may help avoid worries about drawing out their pension savings too quickly.

“We expect the equity release market to grow as more people understand how, with the help of advisers; they can unlock the value tied up in their homes in a way that works for them.”

According to figures from the Equity Release Council, the equity release market totalled £3.89bn in 2020, with £1.17bn of property wealth unlocked by over-55 homeowners in the second quarter of this year alone.

The Council also reported that one in five (20%) people in their sixties are already using pension savings to pay off their mortgages, despite concerns over exhausting their pots too rapidly.

Group CEO at Key Group, Simon Thompson, added: “We are delighted to be using our more than 21-years of experience in this market to expand our partnership with Phoenix Group to offer the Standard Life Home Finance range of new products through our platforms.

“We are committed to growing the market and helping the increasing numbers of people who are turning to housing equity to support their retirement needs as well as their desire to help their families.”

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