Older Borrower Mortgages

With an increase in life expectancy, later first mortgages and important changes to the rules on retirement you would expect changes in the provision of mortgages.

The mature borrower may still find it hard to get a mortgage when they reach their mid 40′s.
Note to mortgage providers people in their 40′s are not old economic has beens!

Thoughtful Mortgages for the Older Borrower

• Consider reducing the term from the average of 25 years.
• Talk to a mortgage broker who may be able to shop around on your behalf
• Approach smaller lenders and niche organisations like eco-building and smaller societies who may take an individual approach.
• Talk to a manager with your existing lender or bank to exploit existing relationships.
• Consider your retirement date and how you will fund a mortgage and other debt as your income changes.
• Demonstrate you have taken action to finance your retirement to a planned date

Finance Blog Comment

Standard rules and criteria are a feature of form filling and box ticking. With research you will find some societies are happy to lend up to the age of 70 or even 75.
Standard rules allow lenders to cherry-pick the loans they wish to make. They are happy to decline marginal cases in favour of getting a homogeneous loan book.
The credit crunch has brought about tighter criteria just at a time when older borrowers need support.
Financial service providers will be exempt from new ‘age discrimination’ rules to be introduced in April 2012.
Problems will occur when you have a high loan to value or an interest only mortgage that you want to remortgage.