Rabobank, ABN Amro to significantly reduce maximum mortgage amount for older clients

Rabobank and ABN Amro are both tightening their mortgage lending criteria for older borrowers. Both banks will factor in post-retirement income and life expectancy more heavily when assessing mortgage applications.

Rabobank and its subsidiary Obvion will apply the new rules from March 2027. From then on, the bank will use the applicant’s projected pension income to determine the maximum mortgage 15 years before retirement, instead of the current 10. The current retirement age is 67, so this will affect people from age 52.

Rabobank will also start taking life expectancy into account for borrowers aged 85 and older. From March onward, they will be permitted to borrow a maximum of 70 percent of the home’s value.

The new rules will apply to new customers and people refinancing or modifying their existing Rabobank mortgage. Customers who do not make any changes to their existing mortgage will be unaffected.

ABN Amro is making similar changes, implementing them on December 9, 2026, InFinance reported. The bank will still use the projected pension from 10 years before retirement. But if the retirement date falls within the mortgage term, ABN Amro will also consider affordability post-retirement.

For life expectancy, applicants aged 85 can borrow a maximum of 50 percent of the home value. For new mortgages, ABN Amro will use the initial market value for this calculation. For mortgage modifications, the bank will use the market value at the time of the change.

The changes follow new industry-wide guidelines from the Dutch central bank DNB regarding how banks factor borrowers’ expected pension income and life expectancy into mortgage assessments.