60 seconds with - Keith Haggart, director of retirement needs, Just Retirement

13 February 2012 | By Samuel Dale

Equity release has been threatening to take off for years - will it ever happen?

I think equity release is taking off now with mortgages in retirement. The Mortgage Market Review highlighted the huge issue of 25,000 people retiring with interest-only mortgages and no repayment method. If you combine that with the issues around pension affordability and falling pension incomes, there are huge opportunities in lifetime mortgages over the next few years.

How important is equity release in funding social care?

Much depends on what results from the Dilnot Commission. There are questions about when care starts and when the funding paid by individuals begins - whether that’s up to £35,000 or whatever it ends up being. It could be when they already have a serious illness or it could kick in as soon as someone reports it to their GP. There is a lot of uncertainty which makes it difficult to tailor products. If we can get some clarity there are lots of products we can offer to support social care.

For example, we’ve done some work with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to provide for people with small amounts of money to pay for care at home. It is about trying to reduce the cost for customers to take out equity release. It is a pilot scheme and there are lots of things to think about before rolling it out.

Do you stick to standard LTVs or can you stretch them if needed?

I have to say they’re fixed. My colleagues would not be happy if I didn’t say they were fixed.

Do you have any secret talents?
I am a qualified swimming judge. Wearing a white outfit I walk up and down the poolside, disqualifying children who are trying their best to swim. It can be quite demoralising for both parties when a child has done a 200m butterfly swim and realise they have been disqualified.

Which three people, dead or alive, would you invite to dinner and why?
Queen Elizabeth I because she was a great Briton, Joseph Stalin as his history is fascinating and Stephen Fry for light relief.

Apart from property, what is the most extravagant purchase you’ve ever made?
VIP tickets for the British Swimming Championships.

What book are you reading?
Two books. Titanic Lives by Richard Davenport-Hines and Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson.

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