For the use of mortgage intermediaries & other professionals only

Maximum working age increased

From Tuesday 1 August, we will be increasing the maximum working age (MWA) to which we will use earned income to 75. This will support customers who are willing and able to continue in their current occupation beyond 70.

The increase in MWA is available to both employed and self-employed customers. We won’t exclude any occupation types from the increased MWA. However, customers should consider if their occupation is sustainable, and the plausibility of working to their anticipated retirement age. Customers should be able to maintain their income position at the point of application to the end of the mortgage term and understand the risks if this proves not possible.

For customers requesting a mortgage term that passes a working age of 70, we will require a new Customer Working Age form to be completed by all customers on the application (not just those working past 70 years of age). This form asks the customer(s) to confirm they have considered the implications of the term chosen and that they believe they can continue to work until the age indicated.

You will find the new form (PDF, 3.1MB) on our website Literature page under ‘Useful forms’, where it will be available from Tuesday 1 August. When requested, you should send the form to be completed by all customers on the application and then returned to you. You should then submit this via document upload as normal with a document type of ‘other’. The form does not require physical ‘wet’ signatures and the customer can sign electronically by typing their name. The completed form will be required before we can proceed to offer.

Additionally, we will soon be introducing a new letter which we will send to these customers titled ‘Information about your mortgage term’ advising they have chosen a term that takes one or more applicants past 70 years of age and that they have advised they can continue working for their mortgage term. When introduced, this letter will be issued approximately five days after the offer and a copy will also be available to you online in the document store for information.

Additional details:

  • The increase in MWA is only available on capital and interest repayment mortgages. If any element of the mortgage is on interest-only the MWA remains as 70. 
  • Where lending extends beyond the lower of the customer’s anticipated retirement age or a MWA of 75, affordability will be based on future retirement income. The maximum age at the end of the mortgage term remains as 80 years for all lending.
  • The increase in MWA will also apply to existing customers increasing their term as part of a further advance or product transfer application.

The new MWA will only apply to applications started from tomorrow, Tuesday 1 August. If an application was started before this date e.g. a Decision in Principle was keyed before Tuesday 1 August the previous MWA of 70 would still apply even if this was converted to a full application on or after Tuesday 1 August. 

Our website Criteria will also be updated Tuesday 1 August.