Legal & General Home Finance has announced the extension of its five-year partnership with Santander UK to help the bank’s mortgage customers with later life mortgage options.
When the partnership, offering Legal & General Home Finance later life mortgages to Santander customers, was first agreed in 2016 it was the first deal of its kind, and Santander has now agreed a five-year extension.
The arrangement helps existing Santander mortgage customers, many of whom would like help to repay the oustanding capital on their interest only mortgages without selling their homes. It also supports customers who want to release equity from their property.
Santander customers have benefitted from the free advice provided by Legal & General since the partnership started five years ago and, since the early days of the partnership, Legal & General has added specialist customer options, such as Optional Payment Lifetime Mortgages and RIO mortgages,
Claire Singleton, CEO of Legal & General Home Finance, said: “The agreement between Santander and Legal & General was a pioneering move when we first announced it five years ago and, since then, we have broadened the range of options that are available to customers on interest-only mortgages as they reach retirement.
“Housing wealth today is increasingly playing a key role in people’s retirement portfolios and we will continue to transform the lifetime mortgage market to help people enjoy the retirement they want.”
Brad Fordham, head of mortgages at Santander UK, added: “Supporting homeowners at every stage of their journey is a key focus for Santander and we know that many interest only (IO) customers find the reality of having to sell a family home at the end of their mortgage is not as easy as it seemed when they first took it out.
“Any IO customers worrying about what happens at the end of their product should talk to us to find out what their options are. We have a range of solutions available to support all our mortgage customers based on their individual circumstances and we’re delighted that our partnership with Legal & General Home Finance enables our customers to access a broader range of more specialist later-life lending options, at no additional cost.”