There were 5,830 new lifetime mortgages advanced in Q3, down 18.8% year on year.
This is according to the latest data from UK Finance, which shoes the value of this lending was £510m, which was down 8.9% compared with the same quarter a year previously.
However, there were 33,840 new loans advanced to older borrowers in Q3, up 2% year on year. The value of this lending was £5.2bn, which was up 9.7% compared with the same quarter a year previously.
UK Finance also reveals there were 306 retirement interest only mortgages advanced in Q3, up 0.3% year on year. The value of this lending was £28m, which was up 10.7% compared with the same quarter a year previously.
Residential later life loans in Q3 represent 7.7% of all residential loans. BTL Later Life loans in Q3 represent 21.7% of all BTL loans.
Commenting on the latest figures Phoebus chief sales and marketing officer Richard Pike said: “Today’s figures should be taken positively. Each quarter this year, we’ve seen rises in the number of new loans advanced to older borrowers.
“While the number of new lifetime mortgages sold in Q3 are down 18.8% year on year, there were still more mortgages advanced than in Q2 and Q1 (5,610 and 5,060 respectively).
He added: “We continue to see increasing positivity towards later life lending products in the UK. Undoubtedly the election and the first budget of a new Labour Government has delayed some decision making, but I’d expect now that the market and consumers have a feel for the future, lending levels will pick up more in 2025.”
Access Financial Services head of later life Adrian Brewer said: “The market should feel extremely encouraged by these figures, especially bearing in mind the series of reasons that borrowers have had to delay financial decision-making.
“The election, the Budget, the Bank of England’s decisions around interest rates and so on have all factored into making 2024 a challenging year for the mortgage market, and yet UK Finance figures have shown consistent quarterly increases in later life mortgage lending this year, which is great news for our sector.”
He added: “I expect that when the dust has settled on the oscillations of 2024, we’ll see a significant further pick-up in lending in 2025.”
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Author: Mortgage Finance Gazette
