There are several advantages to taking out a 30-year mortgage including, smaller monthly payments, affordability, and flexibility.

Monthly mortgage repayments – you have a long time to repay your mortgage which makes your payments smaller, but you need to remember that you will be paying more in total by paying interest for longer.

Mortgage affordability – thanks to the lower monthly repayments that come with a longer-term mortgage, opting for one may make a prospective lender feel more certain that it is affordable. Lenders will ask you to provide a number of bank statements and payslips and might also ask questions about your incomings, outgoings, and spending habits.

This could include questions regarding debt, including loans and credit cards, as well as travel costs and even a gym membership. If your monthly mortgage payments are smaller, it’ll be easier to show that you can afford your repayments with money left over for bills and other essentials.

Mortgage flexibility and overpayment – the initial term you choose isn’t set in stone for your entire mortgage. Just because you are taking out a 30-year mortgage now doesn’t mean that’s how long your mortgage will end up lasting. You could choose a shorter-term mortgage if you decide to remortgage, but that will increase your monthly payments.

Taking out a long-term mortgage for the sake of smaller monthly payments might be the right choice for you at first, but that could easily change. For example, you might receive a pay rise at work, could come into money another way or may simply decide to move. All these reasons could mean your mortgage may change and you might even be able to start overpaying. It is certainly worth checking if you are allowed to overpay when you take out your mortgage. A lot of lenders allow you to overpay up to a certain limit, but some won’t.

The cost of choosing a longer term.

Paying more overall – even though it can be significantly more affordable in the short term to have a longer mortgage, the drawback is your total repayment will be more expensive as you will pay more interest and 30-year mortgage rates will be higher. If you choose to go for a long-term mortgage, it is a good idea, if you can afford it, to make overpayments as and when you are able to. This will help to reduce the amount you owe quicker.

The longer term – although having a 30-year mortgage might appear to be the safest option in terms of affordability, it can be trickier to manage if you ever have difficulty making your repayments. In the past mortgages tended to have lasted for a maximum of 25 years. Therefore, if a homeowner ever had problems with repayments their bank could extend the term, meaning the monthly payments become more affordable.

However, if you are already in a position where your mortgage is as long as your lender is willing to make it, you might not be able to extend the term. This could put you in a difficult situation, particularly if you are an older person taking out a longer mortgage. A bank might not be prepared to extend a mortgage into your old age when you may have retired.