Speaking at the relaunch of Key Retirement Solutions’ Equity Release Market Monitor, Dean Mirfin, business development director, said he knew of four providers who were ready to step into the sector.
However, the current upward pressure on pricing, which has seen rates climb by 0.5 per cent so far this year, was keeping them on the sidelines.
Mirfin said: “There will be up to three new entrants coming into the market in the second half of the year, although that is a conservative estimate as I know of four who are ready now but haven’t launched. They may be delaying because of the way rates are, but as they stabilise we should see them stepping in.”
Stuart Wilson, managing director of Equity Release Advisory Service, said:
“There is one particular building society which I have had conversations with but it is still feeling around the edges. With any high street bank or building society, I would be interested to know if they would come in using their existing name or if they would hide behind another brand but I would welcome this type of new player as they will have the distribution to promote the message to the public, which is important as a recent survey suggested that only half of pensioners know about equity release.”
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