There were 36,050 new loans advanced to older borrowers in Q1, down 4.8% year-on-year, as borrowers exercised caution amid geopolitical uncertainty, the latest data from UK Finance shows.
However, the value of this lending, at £6.0bn, was up 0.3% compared with the same quarter a year previously.
There were 5,300 new lifetime mortgages advanced in Q1, down 8% from Q1 2025 and down 7.2% compared to Q4.
Conversely, the number of retirement interest-only loans rose 5.4% year-on-year, to 353, with a combined value of £33mn, unchanged from last year.
Residential later life loans represented 8.2% of all residential loans in Q1, while buy-to-let later life loans took a 20.1% market share.
Jim Boyd, CEO of the Equity Release Council, commented: “Retirement is increasingly becoming a balancing act between pensions, savings and property wealth, and today’s figures reflect that shift.
“The fall in lifetime mortgage activity mirrors the more cautious mood across the wider mortgage market, with economic uncertainty and pricing pressures continuing to slow decision making. However, demand clearly has not disappeared.
“The Pensions Commission has recently reported that 15 million people are currently not saving adequately for retirement. As pension pressures continue to build, housing wealth will play a growing role in helping drive financial resilience in later life. Modern later life lending products have transformed significantly in recent years, with greater flexibility and stronger consumer protections helping accelerate confidence across the market."
