Summer Reception 2019 at the Palace of Westminster
Photo left to right: David Burrowes, Chairman ERC, Dr Anneliese Dodds MP Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Guy Opperman MP Pensions & Financial Inclusion Minister, Simon Thompson CEO KR Group, Jim Boyd CEO ERC
About 170 people attended the Equity Release Council’s summer networking reception at the Palace of Westminster. The June 17 event also served to launch the council’s latest report entitled Beyond bricks and mortar: the changing role of property in later life financial plans, which was supported by Key.
In addition to scores of advisers, solicitors and policymakers, several MPs were in attendance, including Conservative MP for Reigate, Crispin Blunt, who sponsored the event and addressed the attendees. He said: “Housing is obviously going to be an absolutely critical part of providing people’s comfort in the future and we have got to find a way of sensibly accessing that huge store of wealth in our country, not least to deal with the enormous challenges of dealing with an ageing population.” Commenting on the report itself he said: “I would hope that this will be an early examination of how we can improve the regulation in our [country’s] own interests [outside of the EU] and the interests of British householders who have this astonishing £4 trillion stake in property, in the UK, that can make a huge impact on how we deal with the challenge of getting old.”
Introducing the pensions and financial inclusion minister Guy Opperman MP, Mr Blunt said the equity release sector and the wider industry was fortunate to have such an energetic and dynamic minister to engage with it. Mr Opperman said: “I have read this report and I welcome its contribution and the impact that it is making. There is clearly policy that has to be discussed and debated going forward and that is clearly something that any new leader would want to do.” Mr Opperman also encouraged the attendees to put financial inclusion at the centre of their work. “I want you to ask yourselves to what extent you put financial inclusion at the heart of your interactions with your business, with your staff and with your customers,” he said. Mr Opperman cited pension reforms and in particular autoenrollment as a cross-party success story.
The Labour party was represented by Dr Anneliese Dodds MP, shadow financial secretary to the treasury. Holding a copy of the report, Dr Dodds said: “The report sets out how as many as a quarter of older people are now unlocking funds from their homes to help out younger generations in a variety of ways, as well as to undertake activities that they have always dreamed about.
“I would like to commend the Equity Release Council for the work they have done, so that when people do decide to take that step, to unlock some of that wealth, the industry provides appropriate guidance and support to those who are taking what can be a quite monumental financial decision.”
The report was supported by Key. Asked why the firm chose to do so, chief executive officer of Key Retirement Group – Simon Thompson said: “At Key we speak to thousands of customers every week, so we have a very good insight into how they are thinking about their property and how they are thinking about their retirement. We know what their plans are, what their changing attitudes are and what their misconceptions are. We thought this report would be an important initiative to help provide some numbers and some hard evidence to show the reality of what we are seeing every day in the business.”
Council chairman David Burrowes closed the event and thanked the attendees for taking part. He said: “We are hoping this report will be a regular feature, really examining the important role that housing wealth plays in later life financial planning. We want it to be an effective monitor and really drill down, with hard evidence, to inform the industry and to help us innovate and develop, and for the council to ensure that the standards are appropriate.”
Other parliamentarians in attendance included chair of the Treasury Select Committee Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Heather Wheeler MP, Minister for Housing and Homelessness and former First Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary Rt Hon Damian Green MP. To see pictures from the event click here and to read the report itself click here or to view the images from the event click here.
