You can’t have a mortgage… you’re in your 40s!

BORROWERS in their 40s are finding it increasingly difficult to get a mortgage, research has found.

More than one in five customers aged between 45 and 54 who were turned down for a mortgage or remortgage in the past two years said age was the main reason they were rejected.

Around one in four of those whose age counted against them said they were not able to borrow for as long as they wanted, while the rest were turned away because either they or their partner were too old.

A study by Nottingham Building Society found two in five mortgage brokers had seen a rise in customers in their 40s being turned down for loans because of their age. More than a third believed the problem will get worse in the coming year.

Stricter rules on lending mean many high street mortgage providers have imposed age limits which dictate when a mortgage must be paid off – sometimes by the age of just 60 or 65. It means 40-year-olds could struggle to take out a loan for 20 years or longer.

Ian Gibbons, of Nottingham Mortgage Services, said: ‘It is baffling for people in their early 40s to be told they are too old to have a mortgage, and particularly so when the average age of first-time buyers is rising which means some could even be first-time buyers. There is no doubt creditworthy customers are being rejected and some are facing restrictions on their choice of mortgages.’

The research, which was based on two surveys of brokers and 1,000 homeowners, showed the main reasons borrowers of all ages were turned down for a mortgage was a poor credit history or failure to prove they could afford the loan.

A separate paper published earlier this week found that older people were also likely to be turned down for car or travel insurance because of their age.

Those who were able to purchase the products often found they were ‘exorbitantly priced’. Sue Lewis, of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, said: ‘Premiums rise steadily with age, although this doesn’t necessarily reflect the cost of serving older age groups.

‘The insurance industry can no longer take gender into account when setting prices, so we question whether it should be allowed to discriminate against older people.’

Her comments formed part of a report by the UK’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, which called on banks and other financial institutions to treat older customers better. Tracey McDermott, its acting chief executive, said barriers which stopped older people from effectively managing their finances should be removed.