Thousands of older homeowners approaching the end of interest-only mortgage terms may be unaware of alternatives that could help them avoid financial pressure or unnecessary home sales, the CEO of Air, Will Hale, has warned.

The firm, a membership-based platform for later life lending professionals, said consumers who fail to explore all available routes could end up drawing down pensions, triggering avoidable tax bills, reducing retirement income or taking on unsuitable repayment commitments.

New figures from UK Finance show that 60,000 interest-only mortgages worth around £9bn are due to mature by 2027. Most borrowers have loan-to-value ratios below 50%, meaning later life lending products such as lifetime mortgages and retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages could be viable options for many over-55s.

Hale said: “Advisers, lenders and sourcing platforms all have a role to play in ensuring later life lending is part of the conversation wherever it is relevant. A borrower with significant equity in their home and an interest-only mortgage maturing in the next two years has more options than they probably realise.

"But they will only benefit from those options if the right conversations happen at the right time. The data points to a large group of consumers who stand to gain from better joined-up thinking across the industry, and that is exactly what we should be focused on delivering."

The warning follows the FCA’s consultation paper CP26/18, which highlights lifetime mortgages and RIO products as suitable options for eligible borrowers and calls on firms to ensure customers understand the full range of choices.

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