Later life mortgage lending was once a rarity but in recent times it has bloomed into a significant niche of the market. While still a specialism, the enquiries and applications keep coming, and in growing numbers, as brokers seek a willingness to lend in later life.

To illustrate the scale, at Hinckley & Rugby two out of every five potential mortgage applications considered by our mortgage referrals committee have an element of later life lending.

Often it is an intergenerational mortgage request, such as a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP), or it is capital raising to gift or perhaps adapt a home. There are also interest-only borrowers looking to remortgage, while others are seeking to supplement their retirement income.

The market is potentially huge and consumer demands are varied. People over 65 currently hold £1.5 trillion in housing wealth, with mortgage borrowing in this age group projected to double by 2030.

In responding to consumer needs, we have removed our maximum age at mortgage term-end altogether. It's why we launched a retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgage last month. We consider non-pension income such as rental and sustainable self-employment, and we later life lend for buy-to-let (BTL).

In one recent case that was approved the applicants, aged 65 and 70, requested a RIO remortgage of £90,000 for home improvements. Applicant one receives pension income and applicant two is the director of a small business and intends to remain so until his death. Both have life insurance, and savings totalling over £50,000. By factoring in the director's dividends as sustainable income, they were accepted for affordability purposes alongside the pension income and the mortgage was approved.

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Carolyn Thornley-Yates will be speaking at the forthcoming Later Life Lending Conference taking place in London on Thursday, 11 July. View further details and book your ticket here.