A study of 2,000 people conducted by mortgage provider Livemore found only 4% of those over-50 felt they could access a mortgage product, this figure dropped to a mere 2% among the over-80s. 

Negative view of financial services

Respondents had a negative perception of the financial services available to older people in general with just 28% of those over the age of 50 feeling confident that they could successfully apply for a credit card.

This fell to 24% for those over the age of 80. In contrast, 36% of people aged between 30 and 50 felt confident about applying for a credit card. 

More than a third of people aged over 50 were pessimistic about their financial future and 43 per cent were surprised that they could not access some financial services.  

Among those aged 80 and over, three quarters said they were not surprised at having limited options within financial services. 

‘Mortgage findings…were shocking’

Leon Diamond, CEO of LiveMore, said: “The findings of our survey, particular the mortgage questions, were quite shocking.” 

He said it was not the case that there were no mortgage options for those over the age of 50. He said Livemore looked at all income, not just salary, and pointed to a customer who was 92 when she took out a mortgage with the company. 

Diamond added: “Many people, whether they are in their 50s or 80s, are quite capable of servicing a mortgage. They have pensions and other assets such as investments, which are all valid forms of income but too often lenders ignore this.  

“There are more than 25 million people over the age of 50 in the UK and for financial services firms to discriminate against such as large age range is wrong.”