Despite a challenging operating environment, the UK mortgage market continues to demonstrate resilience. According to the Bank of England, outstanding residential mortgage balances reached £1.746 billion in Q1 2026, an increase of 2.6% compared with the previous year. At the same time, gross mortgage advances totalled £69.6 billion during the quarter, 10.2% lower than a year earlier. In the face of affordability pressures, higher rates and ongoing regulatory scrutiny, lenders remain focused on one question: where will the next phase of growth come from?
That question was a recurring theme throughout the UK Finance Annual Mortgage Conference. While discussions covered everything from artificial intelligence to credit risk, four themes stood out as particularly significant for lenders planning for the years ahead: the continued rise of longer-term and later-life lending, the role of technology in reducing friction, the growing importance of underserved borrower segments, and the resilience of borrowers navigating higher-rate environments.
Taken together, these themes point to an industry that is evolving rather than slowing. UK Finance forecasts gross lending will reach £300 billion in 2026, a reminder that opportunities remain for lenders prepared to adapt their products, distribution strategies and adviser engagement models.
The Rise of Longer-Term and Later-Life Lending
One of the clearest trends discussed at the conference was the continued growth of lending that extends beyond traditional retirement ages.
Over the last decade, the volume of mortgages extending into retirement has tripled. Longer mortgage terms have become an increasingly common solution to affordability challenges, allowing borrowers to reduce monthly repayments and continue accessing home ownership in an environment where property prices and living costs remain elevated.
At the same time, demographic change is creating new demand from older borrowers. UK Finance’s latest later-life lending data shows £6 billion of lending to borrowers aged 55 and over during Q1 2026, with residential later-life loans accounting for 8.2% of all residential lending during the period.
The result is a market that looks very different from the one many lenders designed their products for a decade ago. Retirement Interest Only mortgages, later-life lending solutions, flexible repayment structures and alternatives to traditional equity release products are all becoming increasingly important parts of the lending landscape.
For lenders, however, product development is only part of the challenge. Success in this segment requires a clear understanding of where demand is emerging, which intermediary firms specialise in advising older borrowers, and how competitors are positioning themselves within the market. As later-life borrowing becomes more mainstream, the ability to identify and engage with the advisers driving this business will become an increasingly valuable competitive advantage. Our MarketPro UK powered by Autus, solution helps distribution teams to identify and target adviser audiences with precision.
AI’s Biggest Opportunity Is Removing Mortgage Friction
The topic of artificial intelligence featured prominently throughout the conference agenda, but the most compelling use cases were not futuristic discussions about replacing advisers or underwriting teams.
Instead, the immediate opportunity lies in reducing the friction that continues to slow down the mortgage journey.
The mortgage process remains heavily dependent on document collection, income verification, data extraction and the movement of information between lenders, brokers and conveyancers. These are areas where AI can deliver meaningful improvements, helping firms reduce administrative burden, accelerate case progression and improve the overall experience for both borrowers and advisers.
For lenders, the challenge is therefore broader than operational efficiency alone. The organisations that gain the most value from AI are likely to be those that use technology to improve adviser experience as well as customer experience. As AI continues to reshape financial services across the globe, new opportunities are emerging to enhance the way insights, data and technology support the industry. As the landscape evolves, accuracy, transparency and reliability remain as important as ever.
Related: What U.S. Financial Advisors Think About AI Adoption
Growth Will Come from Underserved Borrowers and the Advisers Who Serve Them
While technology and product innovation attracted considerable attention during the conference, the most strategically important discussion centred on growth.
In an increasingly competitive market, many lenders are looking beyond traditional borrower segments and exploring opportunities among customers whose needs are not always well served by standard lending models. This includes self-employed borrowers, later-life customers, those with complex income arrangements, affordability-constrained first-time buyers and consumers making use of emerging homeownership models offered by firms such as Gen H and April Mortgages.
These borrowers represent an attractive opportunity because they are often growing in number while simultaneously facing barriers when seeking financing through conventional channels. Yet this opportunity also creates a distribution challenge.
Unlike straightforward lending cases, many of these customers rely heavily on advice. Their circumstances may require specialist product knowledge, more detailed affordability assessments or a deeper understanding of lender criteria. As a result, the adviser frequently becomes one of the most important influences in the borrowing journey. For lenders, this changes the nature of the growth challenge.
Which firms specialise in later-life advice? Which advisers regularly work with self-employed applicants? Which intermediaries have built expertise around complex income cases? Which regions have particularly strong concentrations of specialist advice firms? And which adviser networks are becoming increasingly influential within these markets?
As product differentiation becomes harder and competition on rates remains intense, the ability to answer these questions becomes increasingly valuable.
Distribution intelligence is therefore emerging as an important competitive advantage. Lenders need more than broad awareness of market trends; they need visibility into the intermediary firms shaping borrower decisions and influencing lending flows across specialist segments.
Data from ISS Market Intelligence highlights just how dynamic the intermediary market has become. According to the most recent edition of The Landscape Report, there were 34,763 mortgage advisers on the FCA Register at the start of 2026. These advisers operate across a variety of permissions and specialisms, including regulated mortgage contracts, MCD intermediation and equity release advice.
Mortgage firms were the second-largest category of new firms joining the FCA Register in the first half of 2026, with 314 new firms entering the market during the period. Adviser movement remains significant too, with 2,853i new mortgage advisers appearing on the Register over the same period.
These figures underline an important reality. The adviser population is large, diverse and constantly changing. Identifying the right firms, maintaining accurate adviser intelligence and understanding where specialisms are developing is becoming increasingly difficult using manual processes alone. For lenders attempting to build relationships with specialist intermediaries, keeping pace with these changes is becoming an increasingly important challenge. This is where market intelligence becomes particularly valuable.
Related: FCA Register: Changes in Financial Services Landscape
Ultimately, lenders seeking growth in underserved segments must think beyond borrower acquisition alone. Success will depend on understanding the advisers who influence these borrowing journeys and ensuring that engagement strategies align with the realities of an increasingly specialised intermediary market. Solutions such as MarketPro Mortgage, help lenders build a more complete view of the intermediary market, allowing distribution teams to segment and target mortgage brokers.
Credit Risk Remains Manageable
The final theme discussed at the conference was credit risk. According to James Tatch, Head of Analytics at UK Finance, the industry is not anticipating a significant deterioration in mortgage arrears despite the pressures created by higher interest rates. The expectation is that affordability stress testing and broader measures implemented across the market will help ensure most borrowers remain resilient as they navigate higher repayment environments.
While this remains an area for lenders to monitor carefully, the overall message from the conference was one of cautious confidence rather than concern.
What This Means for Mortgage Lenders
The UK Finance Annual Mortgage Conference points towards an industry adapting to changing customer needs, evolving demographics and increasingly competitive market conditions.
Three connected strategies emerged repeatedly throughout the discussions: expanding into underserved customer segments, using technology to reduce operational friction, and developing products that reflect longer borrowing journeys and changing consumer circumstances.
The lenders that succeed over the coming years will be those that combine product innovation with a detailed understanding of where demand is emerging across both traditional and specialist segments. As well as being able to efficiently target and influence the advisers who serve them.
Whether you’re expanding into later-life lending, targeting underserved borrower segments or seeking greater visibility into the advisers influencing lending decisions, ISS Market Intelligence can help. Learn how ISS MI can help you identify, target and engage the advisers shaping today’s mortgage market.
