April Mortgages has launched Interest Only+ - a new interest-only proposition designed for over 50s.
Criteria includes a £24,000 minimum application income, no minimum equity requirement, and no maximum age at the end of the mortgage term for sole applicants.
Interest-only and part & part affordability will also now be assessed on an interest-only and part & part basis respectively, rather than on a capital repayment basis.
Interest Only+ accepts a broad range of retirement income, including state pension, private and workplace pensions, and Pension Credit. April can also consider 4% of the pension pot as annual income.
The range is available with April's five, 10 and 15-year fixed rates, giving clients the option of longer-term payment certainty.
Interest Only+ includes the flexibility built into April's wider mortgage range, including unlimited overpayments, automatic rate reductions as loan-to-value improves, and no early repayment charges when moving home or repaying from the client's own funds.
The changes are designed to make interest-only accessible to a broader range of borrowers and give advisers another mainstream mortgage option to explore for clients looking to remortgage, raise capital, support family members or manage their finances through retirement without automatically moving into specialist later life lending products such as equity release.
James Pagan (pictured), director of product, portfolio and operations at April Mortgages, said: “Being over 50 doesn't mean borrowing needs disappear. Yet for many older borrowers, the range of mainstream mortgage options can narrow significantly as they approach or enter retirement.
“With Interest Only+, we want to give advisers another option to consider. A £24,000 minimum income for over 50s, broader acceptance of pension income and no maximum age at the end of term for sole applicants mean we can look at cases that may previously have needed to move towards specialist later life lending.
“We've combined that with five, 10 and 15-year fixed rates and the flexibility that comes as standard with an April mortgage. It's a modern approach to interest-only lending that gives advisers more ways to help their clients.”
