Lifetime mortgages - maybe they are the future

Because of the difficulty people have repaying their mortgage it is becoming necessary to extend the period of time that lenders will accept.

So for instance the National Counties will lend to a maximum age of 85, The Co-op and ING Direct will lend until a person is 75 years old.

So much for the idea that people are going to use their properties to fund their retirement - for many they will still be paying for them, well after they collect their pension.

This is not a good situation but of course it does present the Finance Industry with new product opportunities. If you think things are bad today then spare a thought for the average 40 year old. I expect that we will soon move to multiple lifetime mortgages (i.e. you pay them back over several generations). Dick Stroud