Nationwide is increasing its maximum age for mortgages to 85 to meet a "growing demand" from customers to borrow in later life.

The building society - which is the largest in Britain - will raise the limit from 75 in July as part of wider efforts to offer borrowers greater support during retirement.

It comes as Halifax increases its age limit for mortgages to 80 on Monday.

There have been calls for lenders to do more to help older borrowers - and lenders have varying rules in place when it comes to mortgage lending and age limits.

Metro Bank has no age cap for residential mortgages - but borrowers still have to go through the standard checks to make sure they can afford it.

Santander has a cut-off at the age of 75 for mortgages while for RBS the age limit is 70.

Barclays' policy on mortgages generally is that the mortgage must be repaid by the age of 70, or the customers' retirement date - whichever is sooner. Applications beyond this can be considered on an exceptional basis.

A recent survey by Halifax also suggested that one in three 20 to 45-year-olds expected to be working beyond their retirement age to pay off their mortgage.

Among those who were not yet on the property ladder, 39% believed they would be working later in life to pay for their property and one in 12 expected to be paying their mortgage throughout their life.