If you are an older borrower, then the chances are you may have encountered some difficulty over the last few years if you have attempted to remortgage your property.
As a direct result of the financial crisis, lenders introduced more restrictive measures to reduce their risk exposure and this included drastically lowering the maximum age permitted at the conclusion of a mortgage term.
However, it looks as if this is finally being scaled back with numerous lenders making it easier for individuals who are looking to take out a mortgage in later life.
Naturally, this news will be welcomed by a considerable number of people in the UK and the latest research by Moneyfacts has indicated that the number of mortgages permitted to end when borrowers are over 80 years old has gone up dramatically in the last couple of years. This is encouraging for the financial services sector and another tangible sign that the industry is recovering well.
Of course, the rising longevity of the population remains steady in the United Kingdom so the demand for later life mortgage products is always on the increase. Additionally, the increasing retirement ages and rising age in first-time buyers is resulting in more and more people buying their first home at the age of 40+. While this is a concern in some respects it is also encouraging to see that lenders are listening to customers by offering appropriate products.
It is interesting to note that back in 2014 the number of mortgage products that were permitted to end with borrowers aged between 80-84 was zero but this has increased dramatically and we now have a total of 1,078 products available in this category as of writing. This just highlights the options that are now available in the marketplace for older borrowers.
Likewise, 5 years ago, there were no products that offered a no maximum age option but there are now 602 products available. Furthermore, we found that there were 263 products currently on the market that allowed a borrower to be 85 or over at the conclusion of their product term.
We also found that the removal of the Default Retirement Age in 2011 has meant that official retirement age and pension age are no longer tied which means that employees can work beyond their pension age for reasons other than ones that are financial.
A key factor worth considering is that a lot of these later life products can be tricky to source and some have more complex terms and conditions than others. Finding the most promising finance terms can be difficult which is why we can help you achieve this.
If you are worried about your mortgage as you approach a certain age or you are just trying to think long term, we can help you source the best finance terms possible and secure the most competitive rate in the marketplace.
If you would like more information on later life lending then feel free to email us at info@specialistmortgages.uk.com or give us a call on 0345 873 1234.