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Mortgages

Getting a mortgage now easier for older borrowers

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
29/01/2019

Borrowers who will be aged 84 when their mortgage term ends can now choose from more than 1,000 deals, analysis has found.

Just five years ago, anyone in this age bracket would have been hard-pressed to find any lender at all to accept their case.

There are also 602 mortgages which now do not specify a maximum age for when a deal finishes, Moneyfacts found.

Since 2014, lenders have become far more relaxed over the maximum age at the end of a mortgage.

In February 2014, 52% of all available mortgages were permitted to mature when the borrower was 75-years-old and over, whereas today, this figure stands at 72%.

The money site said this was one example of how lenders have scaled back some of the post-crisis restrictions in the market.

And it added that these can be particularly helpful to borrowers who have reached the end of interest-only mortgages.

Moneyfacts spokesman Darren Cook said: “Over the past five years, mortgage providers have become far more accommodating to borrowers who wish, or may have no alternative but to extend their mortgage term well past the official pension age.

“The scrapping of the Default Retirement Age in 2011 now means that the official pension age and retirement age are no longer one and the same and employees can choose to work beyond the pension age for reasons other than financial need.

“Reasons to extend a mortgage past pension age may include releasing cash from their equity or purchasing a retirement property,” he added.