Can I Get a Mortgage If I'm Over 40?

Straight off the bat, the answer is yes you can get a mortgage if you're over 40. But it does depend on your circumstances. If the mortgage term extends past your intended retirement age, then the lender may ask you to provide a projection of your pension income. A recent study by the Nottingham Building Society has suggested that almost half of the Mortgage Brokers they surveyed had experienced a rise in declined Mortgage applications from clients in their 40's. When they directly asked customers aged between 45 - 54 who had been declined during the last two years, once again they said it was down to their age. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING AND WHAT CAN BE DONE? First, let's turn the clock back a bit. Before the days of computerised credit scoring and the levels of regulation we see today. If you visited your local Building Society seeking a mortgage, you'd likely be interviewed by the Branch Manager or Mortgage Advisor. They would look at your personal circumstances, including how well you've managed your current account. Based upon this they would, they would decide whether your application was approved. If accepted, you would then be advised how much you could borrow, normally expressed as multiple of your gross salary. However, these income multiples didn't account for age. Therefore, whether you were 30 or 50 years old, you could borrow the same amount. Although this seems fair, if both applicants were due to retire at 65 years old, it would have different effects on both individuals. Let's look at an example using a