When the Council launched its new member forums it promised to give more voice and influence to members. Below we hear the Northern Ireland perspective from two of the latest recruits to the forums.
Alice Gavin from Alice Gavin Financial Solutions is an experienced equity release adviser and joined the adviser forum to become an advocate for the Northern Ireland market. She hopes to link in with providers, funders, and indeed the Council to highlight the positives and address the challenges in her home nation. She said: “The adviser forum is working tremendously and we are really honing in on key areas in which we want to make improvements, to enhance the customer experience for equity release borrowers.”
Ann Kinder, from Donnelly & Kinder Solicitors, is a solicitor with over twenty years of experience who sits on the legal forum. She said: “I think it’s important for the members to gain some insight into the differences between NI and the rest of the UK and the forums provide a great opportunity to do exactly that.” 
“A key issue affecting Northern Ireland is the absence of our local government,” said Alice. “It means there is no one advocating for the day-to-day needs of people living here, and the political landscape here is often misunderstood across the water. This affects many things, our property market and equity release included.”
The lack of a functioning government in Northern Ireland is causing some issues in a legal area which is core to the market.
Ann said: “The Mental Capacity Act (NI) 2016 is similar to the 2005 Act in England & Wales. However, only a small part of the Act has been implemented because there is no functioning Stormont Executive.”
“This means that we are still governed by the provisions of the Mental Health (NI) Order 1986. We still have Enduring Powers of Attorney and Controllership Orders in respect of capacity cases. But we do not have Lasting Powers of Attorney.
“There is now more focus on formal Capacity Assessments as opposed to a solicitor determining whether the client has legal capacity. This is a positive risk-based approach but can result in the process taking longer to take into account the time required for a formal assessment to be undertaken.”
Alice concurred. “You simply can’t give someone legal authority to make decisions about your health in Northern Ireland,” she said. “Instead, Enduring Power of Attorney can be appointed to someone to trust to manage your property and affairs on your behalf if you become incapable of managing them yourself.”
When it comes to purchasing a home in Northern Ireland, Ann pointed out that the transfer of property by way of lease and deed is also very different, mainly because the Law of Property Act 1925, does not apply to Northern Ireland. The legal forum is currently working on a guide to equity release for legal professionals that will explain this issue and others, in more detail.
Much like the rest of the UK, Ann said a lack of education around the equity release market was a factor making consumers wary and industry professionals may well be wary too. “One of the biggest issues is the valuation report with values being extremely conservative,” she said. “This, as a consequence, has a knock-on effect on loan amounts on offer.”
Alice said another key difference facing the Northern Ireland market is the limited number of lenders in the market. “I would love to see more lenders operating here and speak to them regularly about the opportunities they are missing by not lending here.”
“However, we are fortunate that Just and Aviva are competitive players in the industry and offer a strong product range, including multiple strategies to keep on top of roll-up interest if that is a priority for the client.”
Alice said: “The market here is resilient and Nationwide recently reported that Northern Ireland is the only area in the UK in which house prices in Q2 2023 are higher than they were in the same quarter last year. Providers without a presence in Northern Ireland are missing out.”
Both Alice and Ann would be happy to discuss the equity release market in Northern Ireland and share their experiences with those wanting to find out more.
- Views of contributors are not necessarily shared by the Council
