Godiva Mortgages to pull out of Lifetime Mortgages

More unfortunate news, Godiva Mortgages are withdrawing their Lifetime Mortgage from next week.

Interestingly this is not because of a lack of funds but "it is now difficult to offer a long-term rate which we believe is fair to customers". In other words, they have a choice to increase rates or pull out.

They've chosen to pull out because they can make more profit on mainstream lending - my interpretation of course.

This challenges the perception of Equity Release being too expensive. Although the bank base rate is only 0.5%, the cost of funding Lifetime Mortgages - which are fixed for life unlike mainstream mortgages - is no cheaper than it was a year or two ago; indeed some rates have crept up over recent weeks.

By the way, existing customers with a Godiva Lifetime Mortgage are not affected and Godiva hope to return to the market in the future.

In Retirement Services enters administration

Following the closure of In Retirement Services, their Equity Release advisers will be seeking new opportunities.

We at Sixty Plus are building a growing team of advisers and we welcome enquiries from any specialist adviser looking to continue their Equity Release career.

Please contact David Wright on 020 8393 5566 for a discussion in confidence.