Each week, the editorial team of Mortgage Solutions will select our highlights of the last seven days in our editor’s picks.
This week, an analysis of borrower trends from later life lender Pure Retirement suggested that the average age of equity release borrowers was getting younger.
It found that people under the age of 70 made up more than half of its business in Q3, up from just over a fifth during the same period a year ago.
Also, JMW Solicitors issued a warning to buy-to-let (BTL) landlords assuming that because they had obtained a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence, this meant they also had the planning permission to convert a residence to that class of property.
Partner Layla Atha said some landlords were getting as far as the conveyancing stage of a transaction without the correct planning consent.
Mortgage Solutions also spoke to Eliot Darcy, founder of Own New, an initiative where housebuilders contribute to enable high-loan-to-value (LTV) lending on new-build homes. He said he wanted to make the process easier for people buying a newly built home and advocated for the private sector to drive things forward.
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Also this week, it was announced that mortgage sector professionals Atlyn Forde, head of inclusion and engagement at Pepper Money, Aleka Gutzmore, financial wellbeing, mortgage and protection adviser at MoneySprite, and Jeffrey Krampah-Williams, national key account manager for Santander, had created a networking event for black people in the industry and allies.
Lastly, the Equity Release Council’s (ERC’s) Kelly Melville-Kelly spoke of the perception of ageing and how that could make people see equity release mortgages as a last resort in the later stages of life, rather than a useful product for people who may still be eligible for mainstream mortgages.
Landlords tripped up over HMO planning rules on ‘almost daily basis’
We want to make life ‘easier’ for people buying new-build homes, says Own New founder
Industry figures to hold networking event for black mortgage professionals
Challenging stereotypes: Equity release and the perceptions of ageing – Melville-Kelly