In a study by Pure Retirement, over one-third of lifetime mortgage customers rated fixed interest rates as the most crucial feature when selecting a product.
The research, involving 800 respondents, indicated that 37% considered fixed rates their primary concern, with 75% ranking it in their top three preferences.
The significance of fixed interest rates was nearly double that of the no-negative-equity guarantee, which 19% of respondents rated as their key feature. Additionally, the flexibility to borrow more funds was the third-ranked priority.
Paul Carter, CEO of Pure Retirement, reflected on the findings: “It’s always interesting to hear our customers’ views about what they deem important when it comes to later life lending, and these results only serve to underline how critical rates are to our customer base, which tallies with the challenges we’ve faced as an industry since the mini-Budget last autumn and the attendant effect it’s had on the Bank of England’s base rate.
“With inflation having dropped relatively sharply in recent weeks and cautious optimism around the BoE’s base rate potentially starting to come down over the coming months, the signs are there for recovery, and as a lender, we’re looking forward to supporting applicants with a range of attractive lifetime mortgage solutions when the time is right for them to explore later life lending.”
