Legal & General Home Finance has made a series of changes to its Flexible and Optional Payment lifetime mortgages, following feedback from advisers.
The update includes two products with new loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and rate reductions of up to 0.21 percentage points.
The retirement lender has also changed the way it identifies different LTVs on products, replacing old names with colours – “to reflect how no two retirements are the same”.
The two additional lifetime mortgages with new LTV bands include a Flexible drawdown option and an addition to the retirement lender’s Optional Payment Lifetime Mortgage (OPLM) range. OPLM was launched by Legal & General last year, giving customers the opportunity to unlock housing equity but continue to make monthly interest repayments in retirement.
As a result of the new LTV bands and following broker feedback, Legal & General has also ended the pilot that saw the company offer slightly reduced interest rates to customers outside of London and the South East. In place of the pilot, Legal & General has reduced rates across its range of lifetime mortgages for all new customers by up to 0.21 percentage points. The move means that there will now be a single range of reduced interest rates, regardless of a customer’s location.
The new rates will be offered automatically to customers whose applications have been submitted but who have not yet received an offer. For advisers whose clients have received an offer and who want to benefit from the latest reduction, Legal & General has also created a simplified process which allows brokers to request a new offer for clients quickly.
Steve Ellis (pictured), CEO, Legal & General Home Finance, said: “At Legal & General we’re committed to helping customers enjoy the retirement they’ve always wanted, whatever their plans may be.
“Today’s retirement is far more diverse than the stereotypes would have us believe and consumers want options that are tailored to the life they want to lead when they retire. We think that a crucial part of that process is giving advisers the choice, tools and support they want and need.
“These latest changes we’ve made today are absolutely part of that approach and come in direct response to feedback from intermediaries. It’s something that I believe shows we’re a lender not just leading the market, but one that is willing to listen and make changes to help consumers to get the most out of later life.”
