The Intermediary – February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 74
L AT E R L I F E L E N D I N G
Opinion
Affordability isn’t
always what it seems
T
his year, 1.8 million
fixed rate mortgages are
due to expire, according
to a recent forecast
from UK Finance.
That’s 12.5% more than
the 1.6 million that matured in 2025
– which was already a big year for
refinancing. As a result, many brokers
around the country already have their
work cut out scouring the market for
the best available deals to suit their
clients’ circumstances.
Affordability is a pertinent issue.
Many borrowers with deals maturing
this year will have been benefiing
from historically low pandemic
rates of around 2%. Switching on to
a new 4% or 5% deal will be a shock
for many households, with monthly
repayments likely to increase by
hundreds of pounds per month.
Of those 1.8 million mortgages,
many will be held by borrowers either
at or approaching retirement age.
These individuals are now likely to be
in a very different financial position
compared with the start of their
previous mortgage term, making
affordability an even bigger issue.
Bespoke assessments
Assessing a client’s affordability
at this stage in life can also seem a
complex undertaking. While they
may have le – or be planning to
leave – full-time employment, they
could still have a part-time job,
pension, savings and income from
other sources like rental properties
and investments. They may also have
additional pensions and savings pots
that they can draw from at a later date.
However, these are assets that many
lenders will fail to consider, preferring
to take a one-size-fits-all approach that
ultimately leads to a client’s rejection.
For this age group, affordability
can be further impacted if a client is
going through a divorce or separating
from a partner they previously shared
mortgage repayments with. They
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The Intermediary | February 2026
might also still be supporting younger
family members, helping them to get
on to the property ladder or easing
university costs.
So, it is important for brokers to find
options from lenders willing to take an
agile, holistic approach to lending to
individuals who are at or approaching
retirement age. Oen, with a ‘can-do’
aitude and an underwriter willing
to consider a client’s entire story, a
solution can be found that fits the
borrower’s needs and provides the
necessary capital required.
Looking beyond rates
It’s also not all about rates when
dealing with later life clients. Instead,
research should be carried out
into the product options available
as pairing a client with the right
product oen makes a big difference
to the maximum borrowing and rate
available to them. Options available
to later life clients now reach much
further than equity release products
(otherwise known as lifetime
mortgages). Standard or retirement
interest-only (RIO) mortgages are
oen a far more appropriate fit for
those only just entering retirement.
Education is key for advisers with
clients in this age bracket, as properly
understanding the products available
LEON DIAMOND
is founder and CEO
at LiveMore Mortgages
in this space as well as the individual
lenders’ affordability criteria and
accepted income streams can make the
difference between delivering the best
available solution for your client and
failing to deliver a solution entirely.
At LiveMore, we offer later life
products for anyone over the age of
50 and accept a wide range of income
streams including self-employed,
buy-to-let (BTL) and room rental
income, with no minimum income
requirement. Thanks to our LiveMore
Mortgage Matcher® technology,
in a few easy steps, we can take
an instant and accurate snapshot
of a client’s current and future
affordability and put forward a range
of suitable products with a maximum
borrowing amount.
When it comes to advising on later
life lending it’s all about looking
beyond the high-street lenders’ cookiecuer approach to affordability and
searching for solutions that maximise
affordable borrowing – making
every client’s dream of a comfortable
retirement a reality. ●
In later life lending, the right approach to affordability can change the whole outlook
