Legal & General announced that its lifetime mortgage lending reached £201m in 2015, hitting its own £200m 2015 target for this type of equity release mortgage lending.

It lent a whopping £99m of the annual lending in the fourth quarter of the year alone, giving the organisation a 22% market share. This was partly a result of the equity release lending boost, but mainly because it acquired New Life Home Finance Limited in April 2015 and has since rebranded it as Legal & General Home Finance.

Trade association the Equity Release Council recently announced that lifetime mortgage lending reached a new record high in 2015, at £1.6bn, up 16% on the prior year. The number of people over 60 years old is expected to grow by 6.3m in the next 20 years, coupled with an estimated £1.3 trillion of housing equity currently owned by the over 60s in the UK, makes the long-term growth characteristics of this market very strong.

Bernie Hickman, chief executive officer of Legal & General Home Finance said: “I’m delighted with the start Legal & General Home Finance has made in the lifetime mortgage market in 2015. The market has experienced 20% compound annual growth since 2011, and an ageing population adds further potential growth in years to come.

“We have been able to offer customers competitive interest rates and great product features, which in turn make lifetime mortgages even more attractive for customers wanting to release equity without moving from their homes. Lifetime mortgages further diversify our high quality annuity asset portfolio as we increase our exposure to direct investments.”
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