Nationwide are to raise their maximum age limit for their mortgages from 75 to 85 which is the highest set age a lender has set.

The building society’s move has overtaken Halifax who last week extended their age limit to 80. This has come after older borrowers have struggled to get mortgages despite the changes in employment habits, with workers staying in employment until their 70s.

Nationwide will grant mortgages of up to £150,000 to older borrowers, providing they are able to prove they have enough pensions to make repayments. The last age the society will grant the mortgage is eighty which is to run for five years.

However, the extended age limit is only applicable to borrowers who are able to prove the loan will be no more than 60% of their house value.

Aaron Strutt Mortgage broker of Trinity Financial said: “Until now, people aged in their early 60s have usually been turned down by the big banks, offered at most a five to 10 year term, which makes it impossibly expensive. They have had to abandon the idea or go to the smaller building societies and pay higher rates.

“I said that other lenders will follow Halifax’s lead but I did not expect Nationwide to act quite so quickly.”

The longer age limit is expected to massively improve affordability of loans for older borrowers. For example a £100,000 mortgage at 65 which has to be repaid by 75 costs £966 a month at an interest rate of 3%, but if a borrower can extend the age to 85 it brings the monthly costs down to £555.