Can you get a loan on a very old building?
Owners of older buildings often assume no bank will touch them. Sometimes that is true. Far more often the property is financeable, and the thing that decides it is not the year it was built.
Age is not the test
The question a lender actually asks is how much useful life the building has left, and whether that comfortably exceeds the loan tenure.
A well built 1965 structure in sound condition can assess better than a carelessly built 2005 one that has been neglected. Banks know this, which is why the valuation report includes an assessment of remaining life rather than just a construction year.
What the assessment looks at
- Structural system. Load bearing masonry behaves differently from a framed structure, and both can be sound.
- Visible condition. Cracks, dampness, spalling concrete, exposed reinforcement, settlement.
- Maintenance history. A building that has been looked after shows it, and so does one that has not.
- Repairs and strengthening. Documented structural work extends assessed life.
- Original quality. Materials and workmanship, which varied enormously by era and by builder.
Why the tenure matters so much
If a building is assessed with twenty years of useful life remaining, a lender is unlikely to be comfortable with a twenty five year loan against it.
The practical result is usually a shorter tenure rather than a refusal, which means higher monthly instalments, which then has to clear your income assessment. That chain is what actually stops some old building files, not the age itself.
The land point owners forget
In many old properties, most of the value is the land, not the structure. An old house on a good plot in a central location can be worth a great deal even if the building itself is nearly at the end of its life.
Where land and building are assessed separately, that shows up properly. It is one reason a careful valuation often produces a better outcome on old properties than a cursory one. See what the valuer checks on the visit.
What helps an old building file
- Documentation of any structural repairs or strengthening carried out.
- Society records showing regular maintenance, for flats.
- A structural stability certificate, which some lenders specifically ask for on older buildings.
- Clean, current paperwork, since old buildings often carry old paperwork problems too.
- Choosing a lender whose policy suits older stock. This varies enormously.
When redevelopment is on the horizon
An old building heading into redevelopment is a special case. What you own is about to change into something else, and lenders treat that cautiously. If that is your situation, read whether your redevelopment offer is fair before borrowing against the existing flat.
Read about bank format valuations, or tell us the building's age and condition and we will give you an honest reading before you apply.
Checked by Parish Rao, Chartered Engineer and Government Approved Valuer.
Page last checked on 3 September 2026.
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