40-year mortgages: lower monthly payments, but a higher total cost

A 40-year mortgage can reduce your monthly payments and help you to buy a home sooner. But it usually means paying £10,000s more in interest in the long run – and possibly still having a mortgage into retirement.

So while it can be a sensible way to make a home affordable now, it's important to understand the trade-off and have a realistic plan to overpay, shorten the term or otherwise clear the mortgage earlier if you can.

Ask yourself the following before you commit:

• Could buying a cheaper property mean you don't need a 40-year mortgage? A longer term can make a bigger mortgage look affordable month to month, but consider if a cheaper home would let you borrow less and repay over a shorter, cheaper term.

• Is the lower monthly repayment genuinely manageable? Your mortgage should be affordable alongside bills, savings and other regular commitments, with room for unexpected costs – especially as you could be repaying the mortgage for decades.

• How much extra interest will you pay? How does the monthly saving of a longer term compare with the added cost over 25, 30, 35, 40 years – our Basic Mortgage Calculator can help you to compare mortgage terms, and we explore some examples below.

• Could you afford to overpay later? If your mortgage allows overpayments, a longer term can give you flexibility now, with the option of cutting the debt down when your finances improve. We discuss the benefits of overpaying a mortgage later on.

• Do you still want to be repaying the mortgage in retirement? Lenders will scrutinise how you would afford repayments beyond your expected retirement date.

The key is not to mistake a lower monthly repayment for a lower-cost mortgage. A longer term can make buying easier, but you should have a plan to reduce the term or overpay.

First-time buyers and those moving home are increasingly opting for mortgage terms of 35 to 40 years, rather than the more traditional 25-year mortgage.

According to credit-reference agency Equifax, 11% of new mortgages in 2025 had a term of 35 years or longer – that's three times as many as there were in 2022.

Primarily this is because there's been a steep rise in property prices over the past 20 years, with many homebuyers having to take out bigger mortgages as a result.

More recently, the cost of living has compounded the issue: saving for a deposit alongside everyday expenses has become harder, so you end up looking to borrow more. But mortgage lenders consider these higher living costs when assessing how much you can afford to repay each month, which can affect how much they're willing to lend.

So you might find that the monthly repayments on a 25-year mortgage are more than you, or a lender, think you can afford. Stretching the mortgage over 35 or 40 years brings those repayments down, which could make all the difference when it comes to getting a mortgage.

There is a way to significantly reduce the total cost of a mortgage and repay it much sooner, which is worth considering – especially if you have a 35 or 40-year mortgage term.

It's all about overpaying your mortgage, which means paying more than your agreed monthly repayment. This could be by £10s, £100s or even £1,000s, either regularly, as a one-off lump sum, or both.

Overpaying your mortgage has two main benefits:

1. It can help you save £1,000s, often £10,000s, in interest over the long term.

2. It can help you to become mortgage-free years sooner.

Depending how much you overpay by, you could effectively turn a 35 or 40-year mortgage into a 25-year mortgage (or an even shorter one) in terms of both overall cost and time spent repaying. This is all with the added benefit of not being tied into higher repayments, meaning you can stop overpaying whenever you wish.

So, if you've got a long mortgage term, don't assume there's nothing you can do to clear the mortgage sooner or make it less expensive.

Read more, including the pros and cons, in our Should I overpay my mortgage? guide.

Mortgage lenders will normally let you borrow into your seventies and sometimes beyond, though there's often a maximum age by which the mortgage must be fully repaid.

For major, high-street lenders, this maximum age tends to be between 75 and 80. With smaller building societies, it tends to be higher (sometimes there's no maximum).

So, even if you're approaching or over 40 years old, it's still possible to get a 35 or 40-year mortgage term. However, getting accepted may be more difficult because:

- The range of lenders available to you might be smaller.
- Lenders may scrutinise your projected pension income more closely.

In some cases, a lender may be willing to offer you a mortgage, but not over such a long term – for instance, they may be willing to lend over 35 years but not 40 years.

So being older won't necessarily rule out your chances of getting a long mortgage term, but it can make it more difficult than if you were younger.

Getting a mortgage near or in retirement

Generally speaking, the nearer you are to retirement age, the harder it can be to get accepted for a mortgage, especially a normal capital repayment mortgage.

For example, if you need to move home or refinance in your sixties or seventies, you'll likely find it harder than if you were in your twenties – and you're unlikely to be offered a 35 or 40-year mortgage term. Lenders will focus more heavily on your pension income (or projected pension income) and often have a maximum age by which you must apply.

However, it's still possible to get a repayment mortgage when you're near or in retirement.

Other mortgage options may also be available from age 55. Some don't need to be repaid until you die or move into long-term care, although they have different costs and risks. We've got more detail in our Mortgages in later life and retirement guide.