The equity release market continues to grow and evolve; moving away from the days when interest on equity release plans would roll-up and be added to the balance to be repaid when the house was sold by the customer or their estate, or when the customer moved into long-term care to offering greater flexibility and variety on products.

As a result, consumer interest in the later life lending sector has been steadily increasing over the past 10 years, with more than 19,000 plans taken out in the first half of 2020 compared to just over 10,000 in the first half of 2010, according to data from Key.

The sector has also worked hard to shed its past reputation - heavily criticised in the past over how much value is left in the property for the children, by the time the loan needs to be paid back and inflexibility when it came to loan repayments.

As the market has grown, so have the customers' needs. Lenders have also responded to advisers in trying to deliver significant product innovations.

More lenders have also entered into the market for myriad reasons.

This guide will discuss the ways in which the equity release market has evolved; looking at the variety of products, competition, the increase in the number of lenders and also how the FCA views the sector.

This guide qualifies for an estimated 60 minutes' worth of CPD. 

Contributors to this guide: Paula Steele, director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge; Andrew Morris, senior equity release adviser at Age Partnership; Will Hale, chief executive of Key; Georgina Oxton, Strategic Sales Manager at LV; Mark Gregory, chief executive of Equity Release Market; Steve Wilkie, chairman at Responsible Life; Jim Boyd, chief executive of The Equity Release Council; Claire Singleton, chief executive of Legal and General Home Finance.

Ima Jackson-Obot is deputy feature editor at FTAdviser and Financial Adviser