Can I Get a Mortgage at 50 With No Deposit?

Right, so can you get a mortgage at age 50, with no deposit? Maybe life has thrown you an unexpected curveball, maybe it’s taken you this long to get your act together or maybe you’ve spent 30 years in prison from a crime you didn’t commit. Regardless, you’ve found this article because you’re 50ish years old and you’re look for a mortgage, but you have no deposit. 

So can you do it?

Well, this is really 2 questions but don’t worry, I’ll answer them both for you in this article. Now right off the bat I’ve got to say that you are up against it a bit here. It’s not going to be easy to get a mortgage at 50 with no deposit, and to be honest it might not even be possible. But, that’s not to say it's completely impossible, so let’s look at what you need in order to try to make it happen.

Can You Get a Mortgage at Age 50?

You’re in luck. This part of the question likely isn’t going to be too much of a problem for you. It’s really common for people to get a mortgage at age 50. It might not be that often that people are looking for their first mortgage at age 50, but moving house, refinancing or downsizing happen all the time for people at this age. Whenever those things happen, a new mortgage is needed. So it’s definitely possible to get a mortgage once you are over age 50, but there are likely to be some conditions. 

Number one is that the mortgage term on offer might be shorter. For example if you’re age 50 and planning to retire at age 65, you might only be approved for a mortgage with a term of 15 years. This is so the lender can be sure that you’ve paid it off before you stop receiving your work income.A reduced mortgage term means that the repayments will be higher than for a 25 or 30 year mortgage, so the amount you can afford is likely to be less as you get older. 

There are also likely to be fewer deals available to you. Often the best mortgage rates are only available to a fairly narrow range of borrowers. If you’re borrowing for a mortgage a bit later in life, you may not fall into this category for some lenders. You’re also likely to face restrictions on specific types of mortgages such as Interest Only, though these are fairly hard to come buy for most buyers now anyway.

Ok, so we’ve established that getting a mortgage at age 50 shouldn’t be much of a problem. So what about that deposit?

Can You Get a Mortgage with No Deposit?

So we’ve established that getting a mortgage at age 50 should be doable, but now we’re on to the tough part. Getting a mortgage with no deposit. This used to be a thing. Pre-2008 financial crisis, borrowing 100% of a property value was possible through a lot of different banks and lenders. Some would even let you borrow more than the property was worth in order to cover things like stamp duty and moving costs.

That all changed when the banks collapsed. These days, getting a mortgage with no deposit is nigh on impossible. The only real exception to that is by using a guarantor mortgage. A guarantor mortgage is essentially when you get someone else to put up their own assets as collateral for your mortgage. So for example, if your parents had a house that was paid for, they could out themselves down as guarantors and use their own property as security for yours.

This isn’t an easy option, because the bank will want you to jump through a few more hoops in order to get approved. It also means that should you stop making your repayments, your guarantor could be liable for the outstanding amount.

Really though, if you want to get a property and you have literally no deposit, finding someone who will go guarantor for your is the only option. With that said, it’s important to remember that you can always refinance down the line. So for example, if you managed to get a guarantor mortgage and the property value went up 10%, you now have 10% equity in the property which could be used as the “deposit” if you were to refinance.

What are Your Options if You Can’t Get a Mortgage?

If you can’t get a mortgage after looking through all of your options, you first need to understand why you’ve been knocked back. If you have no deposit and don’t have a guarantor, getting together a decent deposit is going to be the number 1 thing you need to do in order to get on the property ladder.

There aren’t too many shortcuts available for someone over age 50, as you’re no longer able to open a Lifetime ISA. It will basically come down to trying to save as much as possible. Depending on your circumstances, it may make more sense to make buying a property a more long term plan, and invest your spare cash instead. If you can generate growth and income, this can create a compounding effect which could mean you have a bigger pot to play with in 10-15 years time. This could allow you to eventually buy a property outright, without a mortgage, depending on how much you manage to invest and how long you invest for.