Mortgages for older borrowers can be scarce on the open mortgage market. Yet in 2017 we received a call from a potential ‘older borrower’. He was 69 years old and wanted a Mortgage to be paid off over the next 10 years.
When speaking to the customer we discussed his age and his plans and in his mind he had no intention of retiring. He worked part time, but really enjoyed his job. He had work friends that he would miss if he retired and in it gave him something to do. He just seen his life as a downward spiral if he retired waiting for the inevitable (his words, not ours).
What did we do?
When looking at cases like this, we are conscious of the persons age and capabilities to make decisions so we take a little more time to ensure they are in a position to make those decisions – although being completely honest, he had more about him than many people half his age. He was not ready for the scrapheap just yet (again, those were his words).
We understood that he had absolutely no intention of retiring – ever! By choice. He was very clear about that. We understood he worked part time and his job was office based so entirely possible to complete his tasks now and going forward without any issues.
As most Mortgage lenders tend to top out at 70-75, we had to find a lender prepared to go that little bit longer. We also wanted a lender who would take both his employed income and his pensionable income in to account in order to pass affordability.
After researching the market we came back with a High Street bank. They were a relatively new bank and had some good quirky criteria and good rates available.
We were able to get him a Mortgage of around 50% of his property value (although we could have gone higher) fixed for 5 years at a rate under 2%. This meant the customer knew what his repayments will be until he is 74. At that point, he can either clear the mortgage off in full or we could find another deal for him.
A lot can happen in that time, so the option is there for him to clear it when he is a little older or he can tie in to a new deal if he is still not quite ready for the scrap heap.
How can we help you?
We have lenders who will accept employed income beyond 75 years old as per this example, also as per this example we have Mortgage lenders who will accept pension income when assessing affordability for a Mortgage.
If you are looking for a Mortgage to go beyond the age where most lenders stop lending, why not get in touch?
As you can see from this example, rates are not necessarily excessive and in some cases no more expensive than a Mortgage with a “normal” bank.
All of our lenders are fully regulated as are we. We will take our time to understand what you want, no pushy sales and you are more than welcome to have family members with you when in the meeting. Lets see if we can help you as we did our client in this example.