A retirement mortgage can be any mortgage that is either taken out in retirement or extends into retirement. This can be a standard residential mortgage or a Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgage.

Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgages are different from standard residential mortgages because they have no maximum age at the end of the mortgage term. The loan is taken out on an interest only basis, where the repayment strategy for the capital must be the sale of the property when the surviving borrower moves into long term care or dies.

RIO mortgages are an alternative to Equity Release, enabling retired borrowers to raise funds against the equity in their property.

The mortgage must be repaid before age 95 for capital repayment mortgages and age 85 for interest only mortgages.

Yes, we can offer mortgages for people over 70 years old. When the mortgage is to be repaid between age 70 and age 95 (70 and 85 for interest only mortgages), we can lend up to 75% loan to value of the property.

For non-manual workers, this loan to value restriction does not start until age 75.

Yes, we will use 100% of the gross pension income when assessing affordability.

This depends upon your circumstances and the type of mortgage you are applying for. As we get older, we can become more at risk of becoming vulnerable to conditions such as dementia. Independent legal advice can be recommended or required to help protect you and your financial affairs at a future date if you were to become ill.

For example, independent legal advice is required for our Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgages to ensure there is a Lasting Power of Attorney in place.

A Lasting Power of Attorney is someone that can help you manage your health and welfare and/or your financial affairs if you are unable to do so yourself. By having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, there is someone who has a legal right to help on important matters on your behalf.