It’s never been a better time for Equity Release

Newcastle Building Society Equity Release Service has reviewed the line up of its 2007 recommended equity release plans and made changes based on the improved range of products available to consumers.

2007 saw increased competition in the equity release market which heralds good news for consumers who now have greater than ever choice. In the annual review of the Newcastle Equity Release panel, three significant changes were made to react to the changing market and respond to customers’ needs:

Protected Equity – Previous provider Northern Rock’s exit from the market has been a gap that is easy to fill with Stonehaven’s award-winning range of protected equity products now taking the lead for consumers, offering protection on proportional amounts of the property at point of sale for no extra cost, a significant improvement on last year’s offering

Guaranteed Drawdown – In 2008, New Life’s new improved Drawdown ‘Options’ Lifetime Mortgage has replaced New Life’s Flexible Lifetime Mortgage. This removes the annual fee for unused drawdown and the reserve charge of £250.

Under 60 – Newcastle has in 2008 introduced a new category to reflect the increasing demand from the under 60s. Stonehaven has been selected for its comprehensive product range of five under 60 products with a low minimum property value

The largest trend of 2007 in equity release were the growth of drawdown products, which in Q3 2007 accounted for 51% of equity release plans sold.

Bob Mottershead says: “The growing popularity of equity release is partly due to house prices rising by almost 200% over the past ten years. Equity release is a growing industry, with SHIP predicting £1.27billion of business to the end of 2007. In 2007 alone, we saw the entrance of seven new providers, in addition to a raft of new products, and our panel is constantly being updated to reflect changes in the market and in customers’ needs. There are a number of different criteria we use to identify the most suitable providers, and it is not necessarily the cheapest that is the best.

“2008 will no doubt see more new and improved products in addition to new entrants to the market which can only be good news for consumers who will be offered more choice and competitive rates. The Newcastle Equity Release Service is designed to provide consumers with the product most suited to their needs.”