The Equity Release Council has announced loan origination platform, Mast, as its newest member.

Mast is a cloud-native platform designed to save lenders time and resources, while helping borrowers to receive offers more quickly.

The move follows a recent independent Fairer Finance report which estimated that over half of UK households (51%) are expected to require housing wealth to support their spending needs in later life. If the correct regulatory, social and technological structures are put in place to support this, this would see an estimated £23bn unlocked from property wealth each year by 2040.

Mast has joined the Equity Release Council as the latest technology member to support this market growth through its partnerships with later life lenders and a commitment to expanding innovation in the industry.

“We welcome Mast to the Council as our newest technology member,” said CEO of the Equity Release Council, Jim Boyd.

“While customers are unlikely to be aware of the hard work that advisers, providers and technology companies do behind the scenes to make the lending process as smooth and seamless as possible, they benefit from the results. We are therefore pleased that Mast can join the Council to add their expertise in driving the market forward and upholding high standards in this important sector.”

Mast CEO, Joy Joseph Absiaab, added: “We're transforming the lending industry with a platform designed to make lending simpler, smoother, and faster. As one of the few self-service platforms on the market, we are committed to helping lenders deliver favourable outcomes to both customers and advisers by operating more efficiently.

“We look forward to collaborating with the Council and its members to explore how our digital infrastructure can support best lending and growth across the entire equity release journey.”

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