Outrage at “shameful” Halifax move to cut maximum age on some products

There’s been an angry reaction to news that from today - March 18 - Halifax is changing the maximum age allowed for some customers.

The lender says that "the maximum working age will change on certain applications where specific criteria is [sic] met. We will continue to support the majority of customers, subject to a successful application, with borrowing up to the age of 75.”

But a maximum working age of 70 will apply to remortgage applications with any capital raising/additional borrowing; and some purchase and remortgage applications because of the level of credit score achieved and overall credit profile.

Financial news service Newspage asked brokers for their thoughts.

One said: “This is outrageous. Halifax appears to be tightening the screws on the very borrowers who need them the most.”

Another commented: “This partial U-turn in policy from Halifax appears unfair and discriminatory”, while a third said: “It's genuinely shameful coming from one of the biggest lenders in the country shortly after a spike in arrears has been reported."

Darryl Dhoffer, adviser at The Mortgage Expert, says: “High mortgage rates and shorter terms are a recipe for disaster, pushing even more borrowers into debt and hardship. They only recently extended the term to 75, so to now reduce it back down to 70 seems a bit odd. … Halifax needs to promote clear and fair lending practices, not create confusion like this."

Craig Fish, Director at Lodestone Mortgages and Protection, sees it this way: “This is not what you would expect from such a large lender, who are already not in brokers' good books due to their secretive rate setting policy when it comes to helping existing customers. This is going to tarnish the Halifax name even further. They are no longer the popular name on the high street they used to be."

And Charles Breen, Founder at Montgomery Financial, adds: “These rigid and obscure lending policies are not just relics of the past, but active roadblocks on the path to financial inclusion. They leave the most vulnerable stranded on the sidelines. This is just a prime example of the range of barriers which put off borrowers in financial difficulty and make their situations even worse. It's genuinely shameful.”