How To Get A Mortgage If You're An Older Borrower (50+)

elderly couple, the lady is on a swing and there's a house in the background

Are you over 50 and want to move house or remortgage your home? It may be a little more tricky as you get closer to retirement, but in this blog we detail if there are age limits to getting a mortgage, if you can get a mortgage after retirement, and what types of mortgage you could get. Then we cover how to get a mortgage when taking age into consideration.

Is there a maximum age you can get a mortgage?

Getting approved for a mortgage doesn’t have a set maximum age, but many lenders do apply different age limits. For example, they may have a maximum age to take out a mortgage and a maximum age for the mortgage to have ended by. Therefore, if you’re 50 and you need to have your mortgage paid off before you hit 70, you’d have a maximum term of 20 years. Even if you can get a mortgage, you need to ensure you can pay it off in the limit set by your age.

As with any mortgage application, having a great credit history hugely helps increase your chances of getting approved. Furthermore, it helps if your income is high enough to cover the monthly mortgage payments with ease.

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Here are the usual age ranges lenders may abide by:

Taking out a mortgage: max age of 65 – 80
Mortgage term ends: max age of 70 – 85

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I’m retired, can I still get a mortgage?

If you’re retired, it means you don’t have a regular salary anymore and your income will probably have decreased. This lowers your chances of being able to make your repayments and therefore lenders are likely to treat your situation with more caution.

Some lenders will, however, let you take out a mortgage after you’ve retired or take out a mortgage that won’t have been paid off until after you reach retirement age. If this is the case, you’d need to prove that you could easily cover the repayments from your pension. This is usually fairly simple if you’re already retired as you can prove the amount you receive every month in your pension.

If you haven’t yet retired, ask your pension provider(s) to provide your:

Expected retirement income
Current total pension value
Expected retirement date

If you have other investments such as property or shares, prove these to lenders too.

Which types of mortgage are available to retirees?

Often those mortgages available to people of retirement age have fixed interest rates, with many offering rates which track the Bank of England base rate. You may also have offset, cashback, discount and stepped mortgages available to you.

How to get a mortgage if you’re older

Use comparison tools to find mortgages which accept your age
Check the max age for applicants
Get advice from a mortgage broker to see if they have any mortgages available just through them
Check out specialist mortgages aimed at older borrowers; mortgage advisers can usually find these for you
Choose a mortgage that’s right for you

We hope this blog has reassured you that getting a mortgage may still be possible. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!