Mortgages in later life: what is possible after 60.

Yes, you can get a mortgage in retirement

Most lenders will now lend to people in their sixties and seventies, and some have no upper age limit at all. What matters is that the payments are affordable from your income for the whole term, and that the loan is repaid by a sensible age, typically 75 to 85, or on death or moving into care for the later-life products.

The four kinds

Type	How it works	Suits
Standard repayment mortgage	Monthly payments of interest and capital, repaid by the end of the term (usually by age 75 to 85). Income assessed on pensions, rental and, up to retirement, salary.	People with good pension income who want a small mortgage cleared in 10 to 15 years.
Retirement interest-only (RIO)	You pay only the interest each month, for life. The loan is repaid when the home is sold after you die or move into care. Must be affordable from income, including for a surviving partner alone.	People with reliable income who want a lower monthly payment and to keep the debt fixed.
Lifetime mortgage (equity release)	No monthly payments (though many now allow them). Interest rolls up and is repaid from the sale of the home after death or care. Regulated, with a no-negative-equity guarantee from Equity Release Council members. Available from 55.	People who cannot or do not want to make payments and accept the debt growing.
Bridging loan	Short-term loan to buy the new home before the old one sells, repaid from the sale. Expensive (monthly interest, arrangement fees). For your own home it is a regulated product.	Only for a short, certain gap; sell first if you possibly can.

How lenders look at your income

• State Pension, private and workplace pensions in payment: counted in full.
• Pensions not yet in payment: some lenders will count a projected figure.
• Rental income and investment income: often counted, sometimes at a discount.
• Salary if you are still working: counted until your stated retirement age, then they look at what replaces it.
• For a couple, RIO and standard lenders check the survivor could still afford the payments alone on their own income and any pension that continues.

Things to know

• Porting. If you have a mortgage now, you may be able to move it to the new home and keep the rate, often reducing the balance at the same time. Ask the lender before you do anything else.
• Early repayment charges. Inside a fixed deal, paying off a mortgage from the sale can cost 1% to 5% of the balance. Time the move for the end of the deal if you can.
• Retirement flats. Many lenders will not lend on age-restricted or high-service-charge properties. If you need a mortgage, check before you offer.
• Advice is compulsory for lifetime mortgages and usual for RIOs. A whole-of-market mortgage broker who does later-life lending will know which lenders take which incomes.

Where to get help

Use a broker who is on the FCA register and who does later-life lending regularly. Our get help page has where we would send a friend, in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the UK, along with the free guidance services. Never take a lifetime mortgage or equity release without regulated advice, and involve the family before you sign.

A note on the numbers. Tax thresholds, benefit limits and typical costs are correct as far as we know at the time of writing (2026) and, unless we say otherwise, are for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ in places. Rules change and your circumstances matter. This is information, not advice: check the current position and talk to a solicitor, an FCA-authorised adviser or a tax professional before you act.