Only 4% of over 50s believe they can get a mortgage

Only 4% of people aged over 50 believe they would be able to take out a new mortgage, according to new research by LiveMore.

This drops to 2% for those over 80 and goes to show that age discrimination in financial services needs to be addressed, says the lender.

But it’s not only mortgages where the older generation feel they are treated. LiveMore’s research found that only 28% of people over 50 and 24% above 80 felt confident they could successfully apply for a credit card, compared to 36% of 30–50-year-olds.

Over a third (36%) of people aged over 50 felt negative about their financial future and 43% were shocked at not having access to some financial services. But moving up the age scale, three quarters (77%) of respondents aged over 80s were not surprised at having little access to finance.

Leon Diamond, CEO of LiveMore, commented: “The findings of our survey, particular the mortgage questions, were quite shocking. Only 4% of over 50s and 2% of over 80s think they can get a mortgage and that is not the case at all.

“There are more than 25 million people over the age of 50 in the UK and for financial services firms to discriminate against such as large age range is wrong.

“Many people, whether they are in their 50s or 80s, are quite capable of servicing a mortgage. They have pensions and other assets such as investments, which are all valid forms of income but too often lenders ignore this.

“At LiveMore we look at all income, not just salary, and our oldest customer was 92 when she took out her mortgage with us.”