The number of later life loans advanced to older borrowers remained largely static in the second quarter of 2025, with the value of lending up 3% up on the same time in 2024, to £5.2bn.
The latest figures from UK finance show there were 33,130 new loans, up 0.49% year on year. Described as a ‘fundamental part of the mortgage market’, the increase, albeit small, is part of a wider growth in lending said Simon Webb, managing director of capital markets and finance at LiveMore, who themselves have seen mortgage applications increased by 132% and completions by 58% versus the same time in 2024.
“With the recent interest rate cut offering a little relief for borrowers, we’re seeing more people explore the flexible mortgage options now available well into retirement. Later life lending is no longer a niche.”
By way of comparison to the wider lending market, later life loans in Q2 2025 represented 7.95% of all residential loans; a figure which has remained constant over the past three years. In the buy to let mortgage market, later life lending represented 22.54% of all BTL loans in the same period.
There were 5,830 new lifetime mortgages advanced in Q2, up 3.7% year on year with the value of this lending totalling £520m, a 10.6% increase on the same quarter a year previously. 305 retirement interest only mortgages were advanced in Q2, down 2.6% year on year in volumes, and down 10.7% in value, on 12 months ago, to £25m,
Responding to the update, Mary-Lou Press, President of estate agency membership and training body NAEA Propertymark, said:
“Any uplift in new loan advances and lending volume is a defined sign of consumer affordability within this age demographic. However, it is important to view this news with balance and perspective. While it is positive lenders are confident to better serve this age group than ever before, it can also be a case that tough decisions are being made by people who are finding affordability a challenge earlier in life and considering taking finance over longer periods than any point previously.
“Hopefully, the gradual easing of base rates will lead to more affordable mortgage products for all borrowers in due course. However, more work needs to be done to ease pressures for many, and that struggle is closely influenced by the current rate of inflation, which currently stands at almost double what the Bank of England have targeted.”
