SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) – the body championing high standards of delivery for UK equity release providers – welcomed the FSA’s publication today of research* showing people are having positive experiences when shopping for and purchasing lifetime mortgages. In particular, in fact the consumers are say that they understand the risks involved in taking out such products is very good news.

This research was undertaken as part of the second phase of the FSA’s Mortgages Effectiveness Review, and covered two different market sectors – lifetime mortgages and sub-prime mortgages.

Andrea Rozario, Director General of SHIP said:

 “Lifetime mortgages are an extremely useful product for many people who need to release value from their property for whatever purpose. Although this review by the FSA was carried out to explore the effectiveness of their own mortgage regulations, we were confident that the results would be very positive, given the high standards of our own longer-standing Code of Practise and the fact that the vast majority of lifetime mortgages are provided by SHIP members who must meet these standards.”

“And although SHIP standard lifetime mortgages are by definition high quality, consumer-friendly products, there are still risks involved which do mean they are not suitable for everyone. For This reason we were pleased to see the FSA’s research confirm that consumers so indeed understand the risks before buying the products.”

*The research was commissioned by the FSA as part of the second stage of its Mortgages Effectiveness Review. A full copy of the report and the research findings is available from the FSA website at www.fsa.gov.uk.