There were 28,840 new loans advanced to borrowers aged over 55 in the first quarter of 2024 – this is down 11.7% year on year
New figures from UK Finance show a drop in later life mortgage lending in recent months.
There were 28,840 new loans advanced to borrowers aged over 55 in the first quarter of 2024 – this is down 11.7% year on year.
The value of this lending was £4.3 billion and this was also down – by around 8.5%.
Around £2.26 billion of this lending was given to borrowers aged between 55 and 60 which is down 9.24% on the previous year. Some £440 million of new lending was to borrowers aged over 70.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at business consultancy Hargreaves Lansdown, says: Later life mortgage lending is dropping but still casts a significant shadow over our retirement planning. Having to find the money to pay housing costs in retirement can put further pressure on a budget that may already be under severe strain.
Some of this lending will be for BTL mortgages and so these costs in theory should be covered by tenants. However, it is worth saying the rental market is under severe strain right now, with landlords increasingly opting to walk away as costs mount. Difficulties finding tenants could also leave retired landlords with a big gap in their income that needs to be filled at short notice, she said.
Lifetime mortgages accounted for £410 million of new lending over the period. This is down more than 30% from the same period last year. It shows equity release is still playing a real part in people’s retirement plans though we do not know whether this is being done to fund things such as home renovations or people are using it to boost their income, she added.
She said: But the overwhelming volume of new lending comes from residential lending – so house purchases and remortgaging. Of course, some retirees will repay their mortgages relatively quickly post-retirement, but these figures show more than £440 million comes from borrowers aged over the age of 70.