First-time buyer in your 40s? It might become the norm

An independent study from the International Longevity Centre and the Building Societies Association has revealed that many homeowners in the future will be paying off a mortgage well into their 60s and even 70s

The research looked at how the UK’s property market will change over the coming years, with increased life expectancy, working past the current age of retirement, wage growth, house price inflation, the supply of new homes and rising student debt all having an effect on how late in life we take out mortgages.It is thought buying a first home will be the preserve of those in their 30s and 40s, with people no longer under pressure to have a mortgage paid off by the traditional retirement age of 65.Lenders are already beginning to pre-empt this trend by taking a more relaxed attitude to older borrowers. With 1 in 10 would-be retirees working past retirement age, life expectancies shifting into the 90s and the state pension age creeping up, banks and building societies realise that older home buyers are still likely to be in receipt of an income past 65.”Taking out new home loans close to retirement age is a mentality shift that’s hard to imagine right now but working into our 70s and still having a mortgage to pay could become the norm in the very near future,” comments James Robinson, the General Manager at mews specialist estate agency, Lurot Brand.”It’s also interesting to read the thoughts on the property trading up process, with the future’s ‘second steppers’ perhaps being in the region of 50 years old – not the growing families in their 30s that we think of today,” adds Robinson, “but the fact that lenders are considering repayments that comprise of retirement income is very positive.”

If nothing changes, it will become more common for consumers to buy for the first time in their late 30s or 40s, with longer mortgage terms from the outset.

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