Much ink is spilled discussing the difficulties that young people face to get onto the housing ladder. At the other end of the spectrum, a growing number of people now expect to be paying their mortgage off into old age and often worry about paying a mortgage in retirement.

Longer loans
More than three in 10 homeowners now expect still to have a mortgage at the age of 65, a survey3 has revealed, a figure that has risen from 26% just two years ago. Increasingly, lenders are happy to give an ordinary mortgage to older borrowers, something that used
to be less common. This means paying a mortgage in retirement.

Options for older borrowers
Specialist mortgage options exist too. Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgages are the newest addition to later-life borrowing options, with over 55s able to apply for a loan between 50% and 70% of the value of their home. With RIO mortgages, borrowers only pay the interest, a feature that makes the mortgage more affordable in retirement.

Mixing pension and mortgage
Retirement planning can be a complicated business, working out exactly how much money you need to live on when you are no longer working and balancing paying a mortgage in retirement. Adding these mortgage payments into the mix adds a further layer of complexity.

But the main thing to remember is that there are lots of options for borrowing later in life. We don’t just deal with the ‘high street’ lenders – we offer a mortgage  review service that is representative of the whole of the market. We can source funding from smaller, niche lenders and the newer challenger banks. We can help with equity release loans and find more competitive refinance re-mortgage rates.

Take a look at our Guide to Mortgages and Protection to get a feel for our service and how it will make your life, your mortgage loan and your move, easier for you.

There is no need to panic: speak to us to see how we can help you find the most suitable mortgage for your needs.

3 HL, 2023

Source: Quilter Essentially Wealth Q4 2023