Taylor Scott International News
Housing wealth in the UK should be used to better support an ageing population by making equity release more accessible and allowing it to develop further, it is claimed. The Equity Release Council has released key recommendations in a White Paper calling on the Treasury to take a lead on coordinating relevant policy to benefit consumers. It examines how people's housing wealth can provide people with an additional source of finance in later life and help the Government to better support the UK's ageing population. The Council proposes that the Treasury's oversight of other relevant departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health, combined with its responsibility for financial services, makes it the natural choice to coordinate policy on equity release. The report also identifies where Government policy could do more to consider equity release as a way of meeting people's retirement needs, and where regulation is providing direct challenges to the development of the sector. It argues that a cohesive approach across departments is necessary to avoid unforeseen consequences and ensure the maximum benefit for consumers and Government. The White Paper includes specific recommendations, including that the Government should consider the role of equity release as part of its strategy for addressing the challenges of an ageing society, ensuring that people are able to utilise housing wealth to improve their income and wellbeing in retirement where appropriate. It also suggest an expansion of the scope of the Pension Wise service to enable users to understand how accessing housing wealth may provide solutions to satisfy their objectives and a consideration of how equity release can be utilised to help people pay for home care, providing financial resources which can help people retain ownership of their home and stay living in it for longer. In conjunction with local authorities and other stakeholders, it says it is possible to develop clear pathways for local authorities to use to help people who are seeking support on financing care services understand when they should access regulated financial advice and how they should go about doing so. It also calls for the development of a range of case studies to illustrate best practice on referral to financial advice on care funding and using the Financial Advice Market Review as an opportunity to ensure that people nearing retirement are able to access independent financial advice, which allows them to consider the full range of relevant issues including retirement funding, paying for care, home adaptations and leaving money to children and grandchildren. It wants the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) review of the equity release market is wide ranging and considers the impact of the regulatory framework on the equity release market, as well as other potential barriers to increasing the size of the market. ‘The equity release sector is growing fast, and is likely to become even more popular in the next few years. This growth is driven by a… Taylor Scott International
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