The Nationwide Building Society has launched its new maximum age for borrowing of 85, available for both existing mortgage customers and those remortgaging from other lenders.

The option for those who are already retired will be available initially through mortgage intermediaries only, with the opportunity to apply directly through Nationwide to follow later this year.

This gives Nationwide the current highest age threshold of any major high street lender.

It will be available across the mortgage product range, with a limit for any new borrowing of £150,000, which in the case of existing Nationwide customers is in addition to any mortgage balance being ported. Loan to value (LTV) will be up to a maximum 60%, and customers must be under 80 years of age to apply.

Only retirement income can be used when calculating affordability. It is not available in conjunction with affordable housing schemes, such as Equity Share or Shared Ownership and cannot be used for debt consolidation purposes.

Henry Jordan, the Nationwide’s head of mortgages, said: “Nationwide is launching the next stage of an ongoing plan to increase the ways in which both new and existing customers can access the equity in their homes and borrow against it to support a range of retirement needs. We will continue to look to strengthen our support for older and retired customers and to help them access the appropriate products for their lifestyle choices.”

For joint mortgage applications, when calculating the maximum affordable amount Nationwide will only use 50% of each applicant’s pension income. Both applicant’s pensions must include the provision to continue to pay at least 50% to the other applicant in the event of death, and proof of this dependant’s benefit clause will be requested as part of the application.