The Equity Release (ER) market is heating up again after a challenging few years. Q4 2024 marked the third consecutive quarter of growth, with total lending reaching £622 million – a 16% increase from the previous year.
And the socio-economic fundamentals indicate that unprecedented opportunities still remain in this later life space.
The fact remains by 2050 a quarter of our population will be 65 or older. These future retirees are sitting on approximately £5 trillion in property equity – more than the total value of UK pension funds. Meanwhile, the pension reality is sobering. The Pension and Lifetime Savings Association tells us people need between £300k and £500k for a moderate retirement income of £31k annually. The actual numbers? Women approaching retirement have an average pension pot of just £69k, while men fare somewhat better at £205k.
With pension pots falling short and property values climbing – the case for later life lending makes fiscal, life and societal sense – providing a prime opportunity for FS marketers.
What can marketers do to reignite growth in Equity Release?
1. Marketing proposition innovation
One of the biggest challenges in the ER industry is the lingering stigma around traditional lifetime mortgages with their rigid compounding interest. The key here isn’t to dodge the issue but to highlight how the equity release industry has evolved – with new more modern products which offer more flexibility. Can you work with product teams to elevate your product offering to include flexible payment options, drawdown facilities, and inheritance protection features? If you have innovative products already then its about awareness and showcasing how these features and benefits solve real problems for real people. It’s time to reframe the ER conversation.
Take Provira‘s recent introduction of ‘Inheritance Solutions’ – allowing beneficiaries to access up to 50% of their future inheritance immediately. This kind of innovation shows how the market is adapting to accommodate consumers’ preferences, providing consumers with greater choice and control over their financial commitments, and creating interesting new ‘ways in’ for consumers.
2. Using tech to empower your audience
At Moreish we are big believers in the use of digital tools to empower people’s financial choices (you can view a few of them here). Digital tools offer interactive, personalised experiences that help customers understand their options. For ER, this could include features that enable personalised payment schedules and easy management of payments. We’re seeing great results with interactive calculators and scenario planners that let people play around with different options – it’s about putting control back in customer’s hands.
3. Demystify through education
Let’s be honest – equity release isn’t the simplest product to explain! But here’s the thing: today’s consumers are smarter and more financially aware than ever. They don’t need to be sold to – they need to be informed.
This could be through the types of digital tools we mentioned above. Or auditing your existing comms with clear, transparent, jargon-free explanations of how modern equity release products work and provide real life examples. Educating customers with options and information on responsible lending will lead to more of your audience considering ER as a viable option rather than something that sounds like a complicated financial ‘dark art!’
4. Sales enablement to make Equity Release a core part of financial planning conversations
We all know the essential role financial advisers play in helping clients understand how releasing equity can fit into their overall financial planning. And the right sales enablement tools can help more intermediaries have these conversations with customers at an earlier stage. See retirement funding tool for Key Retirement as a great example.
Final thoughts
2025 is shaping up to be a turning point for equity release as we are finally seeing signs of green shoots, and success as a marketer will depend on changing how people think about equity release. The winners will be those who can tell a new story: one that’s about empowerment, not last resorts; about smart financial planning, not quick fixes. By focusing on education, embracing technology, and building strong partnerships with advisers, we can reshape how equity release is perceived and marketed. Ready to rethink your equity release strategy – get in touch to see how we can help you!