Building Credit in the UK

Yeah, this is a bit unique to the UK I think.  Our mortgage term cannot go past the age of one of us being 65.  So instead of a 30 year mortgage, you get one specifically for your number of years until 65.  Definitely different!

Ugh.

My husband and I completely forgot about that rule until a few weeks ago. To say that it's put a dent in our plans to move back in 2019 is an understatement. We were planning to use savings to qualify for the visa and some seed money to start and run a business. Qualifying for a mortgage is already tricky when the husband has been away from England since 2004 and having to have a few years of self-employment records and me not having ILR until five years. Let's throw in a super short mortgage too. We turn 49 & 50 in 2019...


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I think it might depend on the age you are when you take out the mortgage? My mortgage term is 35 years and it ends when I'm 68, not 65.

I work for a mortgage lender, and we often lend up to age 70, depending on the applicant's occupation and other factors.

So, even if I have income that would more than meet the mortgage payment, once I'm 65 I'm pretty much toast in getting a mortgage of more than a few years. Bummer.

I'm rather surprised that they don't have some sort of option to purchase mortgage insurance that would pay the balance off if the house wasn't paid off when the borrower kicked the bucket.  Does it matter how much of a down-payment you put down? Buying a small house, eventually, would cost me less than renting where I am now, per month, so I'd like to be able to do it.

Odd that they still have age discrimination here!  Also, it does seem strange in a country that supposedly has a housing shortage that they'd be more concerned with the paperwork of repossession after a mortgagee's death than making the loan in the first place. It's not like they wouldn't be able to resell the property

So, even if I have income that would more than meet the mortgage payment, once I'm 65 I'm pretty much toast in getting a mortgage of more than a few years. Bummer.

I'm rather surprised that they don't have some sort of option to purchase mortgage insurance that would pay the balance off if the house wasn't paid off when the borrower kicked the bucket. 

My in-laws are in their mid-60s/early 70s, and despite having a good retirement income and cash for a down payment, can't get a loan to buy a house.

Also, it does seem strange in a country that supposedly has a housing shortage that they'd be more concerned with the paperwork of repossession after a mortgagee's death than making the loan in the first place. It's not like they wouldn't be able to resell the property

Ah, but you're looking at it from the perspective of a modern member of the human race, who can see multiple possible outcomes and plan for an appropriate response to each of them.

If you look at it from the point of view of a UK bank - which can best be described as "We do things the way we do them because we've always done them that way and anything new or different is scary so let's not do it" - then it makes total sense. 

I'm rather surprised that they don't have some sort of option to purchase mortgage insurance that would pay the balance off if the house wasn't paid off when the borrower kicked the bucket.

You've not seen the hundreds of TV adverts about mis-selling PPI? 
That's the accident, sickness, redundancy, loss of life cover I think you're talking about.  You can still get it, even though the general population thinks of it as a 'bad thing'. 

Also, your mortgage advisor will doggedly try to sell you life cover that will pay off the mortgage if you die.

Does the age thing go by the older spouse or the younger?  My husband turns 65 in 34 years, but I have 38 years.  So if we were approved for a mortgage would it be based on his age or mine?

Or neither, seeing as we would be able to get a 'normal' length and pay it off before 65?  I'm confused about when the age thing comes into play.

I think it might depend on the age you are when you take out the mortgage? My mortgage term is 35 years and it ends when I'm 68, not 65.

Mine also ends when I'm 68, so 33 years for us.  We're going to try to pay it back sooner however. 

Mine also ends when I'm 68, so 33 years for us.  We're going to try to pay it back sooner however.

Maybe it's based on how old you'll be when you reach retirement/State Pension age (or at least the agreed retirement/State Pension age at the time you take out the mortgage)? I was born in 1983, so my retirement/State Pension age is 68... and my mortgage term ends when I'm 68.

I wouldn’t be surprised if my husband had a date that he wants to cap it at.  Maybe we could have done a longer term...  ours is only 26 years and we are in our 30’s.  he’s 39 and I’m 37.

So if I am older than my husband but am not working when we get a mortgage will they go by his age?  He is 52 so if they would lend until 68 that would be 15 years.  Probably not enough to get the type of house we would like if we stayed here.  Does anyone know if they do this in the US?  We are trying to consider whether to stay or go back this summer. 

Does anyone know if they do this in the US?  We are trying to consider whether to stay or go back this summer.

Email a realtor in your target US city and ask them for a recommendation of a local lender or mortgage broker, then ask them about it.

The USA has the Equal Opportunity Credit Act which prevents lenders from discriminating against borrowers based on age.  It's all assessed on the ability to payback (income, social security, pensions).

~sigh~