Standard Life, now part of savings and retirement business Phoenix Group, is to partner with Key to launch a range of lifetime mortgage products under the new Standard Life Home Finance brand. 

The equity release products will be provided by retirement and equity release specialist Key Group.

Standard Life says the products will enable advisers to help over-55 homeowners to release equity from their property without moving home. 

The products will include lump sum and drawdown offerings.  

The range will be gradually rolled out to advisers from October, when full product details will be released, with the aim of products being available to all advisers by the end of the year. 

Phoenix, a long-term savings and retirement company which has acquired the Standard Life brand, has been an active funder in the equity release market for the last five years. It is a member of the Equity Release Council trade body. 

Tom Ground, managing director, retirement solutions, Standard Life, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be partnering with the specialists at Key Group who will launch a new range of Standard Life Home Finance-branded equity release products to advisers. The money people have invested in their property should not be overlooked when it comes to Financial Planning, and alongside pensions savings, this new Lifetime Mortgage range will be a key part of people’s financial toolkit later in life.

“A growing number of people are retiring with mortgage debt and find themselves using their pension savings to pay off their mortgages. Lifetime mortgages provide them with more options and may help avoid worries about drawing out their pension savings too quickly. We are delighted to be both branding and funding these Defaqto 5 Star-rated products.”  

“We expect the equity release market to grow as more people understand how, with the help of advisers; they can unlock the value tied up in their homes in a way that works for them.”

Standard Life says that in 2020, the equity release market totalled £3.89bn. Some £1.17bn of property wealth was ‘unlocked’ by over-55 homeowners in the second quarter of this year, according to the Equity Release Council. The company says recent data suggests that one in five (20%) people in their sixties are already using pension savings to pay off their mortgages. 

Simon Thompson, group chief executive at Key Group, said: “We are delighted to be using our more than 21-years of experience in this market to expand our partnership with Phoenix Group to offer the Standard Life Home Finance range of new products through our more2life platforms. At Key Group, we are committed to growing the market and helping the increasing numbers of people who are turning to housing equity to support their retirement needs as well as their desire to help their families.”