Mortgage Industry challenged to support mature buyers

June 16, 2015 by Brendan

Borrowers

At a recent conference held by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the lending sector was urged to support older buyers to better deal with the ageing society that we live in.

With a larger number of people looking to obtain mortgages post retirement, the industry was challenged to ensure that it did not discriminate against more mature applicants.

David Sinclair, the director of International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK), threw down the gauntlet at the event, while also urging older borrowers to consider all options before turning their attention to the buy-to-let market as an investment opportunity, which could ‘top-up’ their income by investing their pension reserves into property.

Following the Mortgage https://www.beaconfinancialtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cemap-online-and-classroom-training-uk.jpget Review (MMR) of April 2014, there has been a tightening in lending criteria. However, ILC-UK feels that this is not a full enough explanation as to the rising number of applicants that are declined on an age basis. Sinclair said:

“We are living longer, our family structures are changing… and we are working longer. At the same time, financial insecurity will result in more people needing to borrow more and later in life. We should be particularly worried about those retirees with interest only mortgages but no linked investment.”

He added that he felt the industry needed to ensure that pensioners who had low incomes but were asset rich were served effectively by the market. Having qualified as a mortgage adviser after passing your CeMAP training, part of your role is to assess your customers’ needs and suitability in order to best advise them on how you can help.