Which Lenders Will Lend to Borrowers Over 70?
The pool of lenders willing to approve secured loans for over-70 borrowers is smaller than for younger applicants, but it is not negligible. Together Money is the most frequently cited specialist lender for older borrowers, with a maximum age at end of term of 85 — meaning a 70-year-old can access a fifteen-year loan from them. This is significantly more generous than most providers and reflects Together Money's deliberate focus on non-standard borrower profiles.
Pepper Money, a specialist lender with broad credit criteria, typically lends to age 80 at end of term, giving a 70-year-old access to a ten-year loan. Spring Finance, another specialist bridging and secured lender, has similar policies. United Trust Bank and Shawbrook Bank also have more accommodating age criteria than mainstream lenders, though the exact maximum ages vary and should be confirmed with a broker at the time of application as criteria do change.
Mainstream lenders — high street banks, building societies — are largely unsuitable for over-70 borrowers seeking a secured loan of meaningful length. Their automated underwriting systems typically decline applicants above age thresholds without the ability to consider individual circumstances. This is precisely why the specialist market exists and why a broker who exclusively works in the specialist space is essential for this age group.
It is worth understanding that lenders do not set maximum age policies as a matter of discrimination — they reflect genuine concerns about loan term sustainability, exit strategy clarity, and the statistical reality of life expectancy. Specialist lenders who have developed comfort with older borrower profiles have done so by building exit strategy assessment and property equity analysis into their underwriting in a way that mainstream lenders have not.
Exit Strategies for Over-70 Borrowers
For any secured loan applicant over 70, a clear and credible exit strategy — a plan for how the loan will ultimately be repaid — is an important part of the application. For a capital repayment loan, the exit strategy is built in: you repay principal and interest each month, and the loan is fully cleared by the end of the term. This is the simplest and most transparent approach, and many over-70 borrowers with good pension incomes choose this route.
For interest-only secured loans, the exit strategy is more prominent. The monthly payments cover only the interest; the capital must be repaid at the end of the term. Common exit strategies include: downsizing — selling the family home and using the proceeds to clear the loan and buy a smaller property; equity release — taking out a lifetime mortgage at a future date to clear the secured loan; and repayment from the estate — the loan balance is cleared from the property sale proceeds after death. Lenders will want confidence that one of these routes is genuinely available and that the property equity is sufficient to cover the outstanding balance.
A property worth £400,000 with a mortgage of £50,000 and a secured loan of £60,000 has gross equity of £290,000. Even after all loans are repaid, substantial equity remains — giving the lender high confidence that the exit strategy (whatever it is) will work. Conversely, a high combined LTV leaves little margin for error and may lead to a shorter loan offer or a lower loan amount.
For over-70 borrowers considering a secured loan primarily as a bridging measure before they transition to equity release, it is worth understanding the interaction between the two products. A secured loan on a property already subject to a first charge mortgage can be followed by equity release later — but the equity release provider will need to redeem both the first charge and the second charge, so the total equity needs to be sufficient to cover both balances plus the equity release proceeds.
