Immotion Capital
Up to what age can I finance properties?
Until the beginning of 2018, it was almost impossible for older people to obtain loans to but a property. This was because of the “European Housing Loan Directive (MCD)”. This came into effect in March 2016, and stipulated that a loan must be completely paid off within a person’s lifetime. It became impossible for many older people to obtain a property loan. Since the liability regulations were extremely strict, the banks would rather refuse too many customers rather than not enough.
The situation has now changed. It has become easier for older people to get a property loan. A new guideline came into effect relating to building loans in May 2018. It allows banks to take into consideration whether the value of the property exceeds the amount of the loan, and whether the value of the house or apartment could increase, when they are checking for creditworthiness. If the bank comes to the decision that the borrower will pay all of the loan instalments on time during their lifetime, the lender may disregard the risk that the borrower may die.
And what has happened in practice? Some banks have an upper age limit for loan approvals. The limit may be 60, for example. However, if the older person has a good credit rating, refinancing is possible. This is decided on a case-by-case basis. There is no specific upper age limit as such.