Yahoo Finance Nationwide Raises Mortgage Age Limit To 85
Britain's biggest building society is increasing its maximum age for mortgages to 85 to meet "a growing demand" from customers "to borrow in later life".
Nationwide said it will increase its current maximum 75 year age limit by 10 years from July.
The announcement comes as Halifax raises its age limit for mortgages from 75 to 80 from today.
Nationwide said its change could enable pensioners to borrow to move house or to meet other needs.
The option will be available on all standard Nationwide mortgage products up to 60% loan-to-value (LTV) and with a maximum loan size of £150,000.
Nationwide's head of mortgages Henry Jordan said: "We are taking a series of steps to meet a growing demand from customers to be able to borrow in later life.
"These customers are often asset rich, with significant equity in their home, and they wish to have the flexibility to borrow against it.
"Access to the mainstream market has been a challenge for older customers, resulting in their needs going unfulfilled.
"This measure helps to address these needs in a prudent, controlled manner."
Lenders have been urged to do more to help older borrowers - and they have varying rules in place when it comes to mortgage lending and age limits.
Halifax said its change today was a response to changing demographics, with people living and working for longer.
Metro Bank has no age cap for residential mortgages - but borrowers still have to go through the standard checks to make sure they can afford their mortgage.
Santander has a cut-off at the age of 75 for mortgages while for RBS the age limit is 70.
The number of consumers aged over 65 in the UK is expected to increase by 1.1 million over the next five years, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.
A recent survey by Halifax also suggested that one in three 20 to 45-year-olds expected to be working beyond their retirement age to pay off their mortgage.
Among those who were not yet on the property ladder, 39% believed they would be working later in life to pay for their property and one in 12 expected to be paying their mortgage throughout their life.
