Reverse mortgage blog
Reverse Mortgage London Ontario: Amounts and Lenders (2026)
General information for Canadian homeowners, not personal financial, legal, or tax advice.
Key takeaways
- A typical London home was worth $557,000 in July 2026, and a typical single-family house $606,800 — the benchmark prices from the local real estate board (London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS).
- How much you can borrow is set by age. On the typical London home — the July 2026 benchmark of $557,000 — that is up to about $281,000 at 65 and up to about $323,000 at 75 (the full age-by-age breakdown).
- All four government regulated lenders lend on London homes, and a London address sits inside every lender's core service area — city homes are lent at the top of the range, rural properties lower down (the complete Ontario guide).
- At London values, the money most often goes to ending a monthly mortgage payment — clearing the mortgage and the debts that followed someone into retirement, with whatever is left paid out as tax-free cash (how homeowners 55+ clear their debts).
- The City of London does not advertise a seniors' property-tax deferral program — though provincial law guarantees lower-income seniors at least relief on tax increases in every Ontario city (Municipal Act, 2001, s. 319).
- Every reverse mortgage needs independent legal advice — a private meeting with your own lawyer at their office, costing $800 to $1,200 in Ontario (what happens in that appointment).
A reverse mortgage follows the same rules in London, Ontario as anywhere in the province. What changes is the amount. On July 2026 London values, a homeowner at 65 can access up to about $281,000 on a typical home — and up to about $306,000 on a single-family house.
Most London homeowners in their sixties and seventies want to stay in the house where they raised their family, without money being a monthly worry. The challenge is usually not the home’s value. It is that the value sits in the house while a mortgage payment, or a line of credit that never shrinks, keeps coming out of a fixed pension.
Two numbers decide what a reverse mortgage can do about that: what a London home is actually worth right now, and how much of that value a lender will advance at a given age. They are separate figures, and both change.
This page sets out both — current London values from the local real estate board, the amounts available at 65, 70 and 75, which lenders lend here, where London stands on property-tax help for seniors, and what the required legal appointment looks like.
What are London homes actually worth right now?
The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS — the local real estate board — publishes a benchmark price each month: its estimate of what a typical home of each type is worth, so one unusual month of sales can’t skew the picture. Here is the board’s area in July 2026.
| London and St. Thomas area, July 2026 | Benchmark price | Change from three months earlier |
|---|---|---|
| A typical home, all types together | $557,000 | −1.8% |
| Single-family house | $606,800 | −2.4% |
| Townhouse | $428,400 | −4.6% |
| Condo apartment | $330,000 | +0.5% |
Benchmark prices from the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS’ July 2026 market report, published August 5, 2026.
Two things in that table matter. A typical single-family house here is worth almost twice a typical condo apartment. And prices have held close to flat since spring — the typical home is down about 2% over three months, with condo apartments the only type that rose.
One London number still can’t describe your street
The board publishes London district by district, and the spread inside the city is real. In July 2026 the benchmark ran from about $430,000 in London East to about $621,000 in London North — with St. Thomas at about $506,500 and Middlesex Centre, the townships just outside the city, at about $775,700.
So the area-wide figure describes the market, not any particular house. A reverse mortgage is worked out against one appraised home, which is why the next section is a table of percentages rather than a single answer.
How much can you get on a London home at 65, 70, or 75?
The amount is set almost entirely by the age of the youngest homeowner. The older you are, the more of the home’s value a lender will advance, because the lender expects to wait fewer years to be repaid.
The table below applies the age-by-age percentages to the London benchmark values above.
| Age of the youngest homeowner | Up to this much of the home’s value | Typical condo apartment $330,000 | Typical London home $557,000 | Typical single-family house $606,800 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | about 50.5% | about $167,000 | about $281,000 | about $306,000 |
| 70 | about 53% | about $175,000 | about $295,000 | about $322,000 |
| 75 | about 58% | about $191,000 | about $323,000 | about $352,000 |
Percentages are the ceilings on the market’s highest-lending products, and are the same ones behind the reverse mortgage calculator. London values are the board’s benchmarks for July 2026.
Those are ceilings, not starting points, and you don’t have to take the maximum. You’re charged interest only on the money you actually take, so taking less keeps the balance smaller.
What the money most often does in London: it ends the monthly payment
London’s values change what the money is for. In Toronto, where the real estate board’s typical home sat at $928,200 in July 2026 (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board), a reverse mortgage often clears the mortgage, funds a renovation, and helps the kids with a down payment all at once.
At London values, the money usually goes to one thing. Up to about $281,000 at 65 is more than enough for the problem most London homeowners actually bring: a mortgage that followed them into retirement, a line of credit that stopped shrinking years ago, and the monthly payments on both coming out of a pension.
A reverse mortgage clears those first — anything owing on the home is always paid off and closed from the new mortgage on the day it funds. What changes the next month is the part people feel: the mortgage payment stops, and the whole pension goes back to covering everyday living.
None of that means London amounts are small. A 75-year-old in a typical single-family house can access up to about $352,000 — more than most people ever need. And at London prices, the product lines up with the most common reason these are arranged anywhere: clearing debts and ending their monthly payments.
One thing is worth knowing before comparing offers. The advertised rate is the retail price: unpublished broker-channel specials routinely land below it, and set-up fees can often be reduced — sometimes waived — when lenders are competing for the same borrower. None of it costs the homeowner anything, because the lender pays the broker.
What would your London home qualify for?
A free, no-obligation estimate works out the real number for your age and your address — compared across every reverse mortgage lender in Canada, with no impact on your credit.
Get my free estimateYour own home is almost certainly not the benchmark. Put its value and the youngest owner’s age in below, and the amount moves with them:
Here's What Happens to Your Equity
Adjust the sliders below to see how your equity can change over time.
Need more than this estimate?In some situations we can structure additional financing to unlock more of your equity — contact us to see if it fits your situation.
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Your 15-Year Forecast
In 15 years, your home is projected to be worth $1,935,282 (at 4.5% growth). Even with the growing loan balance, you would still have$1,288,355in remaining equity!
*Disclaimer: These projections are for illustration purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Projections assume 4.5% annual appreciation and 6.44% interest rate. Actual results may vary based on market conditions and individual circumstances.
Your 15-Year Forecast
In 15 years, your home is projected to be worth $1,935,282 (at 4.5% growth). Even with the growing loan balance, you would still have$1,288,355in remaining equity!
This calculator is for illustration only. Change the home value and the age to see how the amount moves — then a free estimate confirms the real figure against every lender.
How does a reverse mortgage work in London, Ontario?
Reverse mortgages follow the same rules in London, Ontario as everywhere else in Canada. There’s no London version of the product, and no municipal rule that changes it.
If you are 55 or older, you borrow against your home and make no required monthly mortgage payments. Interest is added to the balance instead, and the loan is repaid when the last borrower sells, moves out permanently, or passes away. Property taxes, home insurance and reasonable upkeep stay your responsibility, and the home has to stay your primary residence.
The money is tax-free: it clears any existing mortgage and debts first, and the rest lands in the bank account to use as you please.
Two protections come with all four lenders. Independent legal advice is required before anything becomes final. And under the No Negative Equity Guarantee, neither the homeowner nor the estate ever repays more than the home’s fair market value at the time the mortgage becomes due, as long as the property taxes, the insurance and the upkeep are kept up.
The full walkthrough is in how a reverse mortgage works in Canada, and the province-wide picture is in the complete Ontario guide.
Which lenders lend on London homes?
All four of Canada’s reverse mortgage lenders lend on London homes. HomeEquity Bank (CHIP), Equitable Bank, Home Trust and Bloom are the whole market, all four are government regulated, and a London address sits comfortably inside every one of their service areas.
It isn’t true everywhere in the region. A city the size of London, with a steady resale market, is where lenders advance the top of their published range. Smaller towns and rural properties around it are still accepted by some lenders, sometimes with lower maximum lending amounts. Condos qualify too — the lender reviews the building as well as the unit, and the requirements page covers how.
The same London house can get four different offers
Each lender draws its age, property and location limits in a slightly different place, so four offers on one London home can differ by tens of thousands of dollars. The rate is only part of it — the amounts differ, the fees differ, and what each lender charges to leave early differs too.
Rates themselves aren’t a London question at all. They’re set province-wide, and the rates guide keeps the current published rates. Sorting out which lender fits a particular home and a particular plan is a broker’s job, and it costs the homeowner nothing.
Can a London homeowner defer property taxes instead?
Sometimes the strain isn’t a mortgage at all — it’s the tax bill. Some Ontario cities run programs that postpone the whole yearly property tax bill for lower-income seniors. As of August 2026, London is not one of them: the City of London’s own tax pages offer payment plans and installment schedules, but no seniors’ deferral program.
Provincial law still guarantees a minimum. Under Ontario’s Municipal Act, every city must offer lower-income seniors at least relief on property tax increases — a deferral, a cancellation, or similar. So something exists in London. The city’s tax office at 519-661-2489 is the place to ask what it currently covers.
One thing to know: you can’t do both. Keeping property taxes paid is one of the responsibilities that comes with a reverse mortgage, and any deferral balance already built up is paid out when the mortgage is set up — so it’s one route or the other. Which route fits which situation is covered in property tax deferral for Ontario seniors.
What does the legal appointment look like in London?
Every reverse mortgage in Canada requires independent legal advice: one private meeting with your own lawyer — not the lender’s — who reads the mortgage first, then confirms you understand what you are signing and are signing it freely.
This is a real difference from a regular refinance, where one lawyer or closing company usually acts for both the lender and the borrower. On a reverse mortgage the roles are split: the lender’s lawyer completes the closing, and the independent lawyer acts only for you, explaining everything from the legal side.
The Ontario cost is $800 to $1,200, billed by the lawyer directly, and it’s usually settled out of the mortgage money at closing rather than paid up front. Independent legal advice for reverse mortgages covers what happens in that appointment and what to bring.
London has no shortage of law firms that handle these meetings, and the appointment itself is a short visit to the lawyer’s office — lenders generally want this meeting held in person. Where getting to an office is genuinely difficult, a video call can sometimes be allowed instead. A free referral comes with every mortgage, and if you already have a lawyer you trust, simply use them.
Questions about the mortgage itself — the rate, the amount, which lender fits, what it costs — are the broker’s job, and those can be asked at any point along the way.
Who does a reverse mortgage fit in London?
A reverse mortgage tends to fit when the goal is staying in the home with less financial stress. Four situations come up most often:
- A mortgage still being paid in retirement. Clearing it removes the monthly mortgage payment, which is the most common reason these are arranged.
- Credit cards or a line of credit that never shrink. On $45,000 at 20%, interest alone is about $750 a month, so minimum payments barely move the balance.
- A bank that said no. Approval here is based on age and the home, not on proving a pension can cover a monthly payment.
- Wanting to stay put. The house, the street, the neighbours and the garden are the point, and the money is what makes staying possible.
It fits badly when a sale is already close and nothing is needed in the meantime, or when the mortgage still owing is larger than the age-based limit. It also fits badly when there is strong income and good credit and regular payments are genuinely preferred — a regular mortgage or a HELOC, a home equity line of credit, is usually cheaper for that person, and an independent broker arranges those too.
What this looks like on a $430,000 east-end London bungalow
Take a couple, both 70, in an east-end bungalow worth about $430,000 — the local real estate board’s July 2026 benchmark for London East. At 70, a lender will advance up to about 53% of the home’s value: roughly $228,000.
Say $130,000 is still owing on the mortgage and $20,000 on a line of credit. The existing mortgage — and anything else registered against the home — must be paid out of the new mortgage money on the day it’s set up, and generally other debts are paid down too. Here that clears both, leaving up to about $78,000 still available, tax-free, and no monthly mortgage payment.
You don’t have to take that full amount. You’re charged interest only on the money you actually take, so plenty of homeowners take what they need now and leave the rest — and you can take another draw later, within the approved limit.
The month-to-month change is the point. The pension that was covering a mortgage payment, a line-of-credit payment, and groceries now only has to cover the groceries. Whether the same math works on a different house and a different mortgage is exactly what a free estimate answers — it works out the numbers across all four lenders, at no cost and no obligation.
Most of it is done from a London living room
Setting it up needs no office visit. Everything is done by email, phone and video call, and because every number arrives in writing, you can read it slowly, twice, and show it to your family — adult children are often copied on the emails, asking their own questions along the way, whenever the homeowner wants them involved.
Two things happen in London in person: the appraiser visits the home to confirm its value, and the legal appointment is a short visit to a London lawyer’s office. The closing paperwork is handled the same way it would be anywhere in Ontario.
Free Guide:The Canadian Reverse Mortgage Guide
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- ✓When a reverse mortgage is the wrong choice
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Who arranges it shapes every other decision, because two of the four lenders can’t be reached by phoning around: one lends only through mortgage brokers, and another’s highest-lending product is broker-channel only. Choosing a reverse mortgage broker sets out the licence check and the questions worth asking.
Ready to see what you qualify for?
The free estimate takes a few minutes: your age, your address, and what the money is for — compared across every reverse mortgage lender in Canada, with no cost, no obligation, and no impact on your credit.
Get my free estimateFrequently asked questions
How much can you get from a reverse mortgage on a London home?
Up to about 50.5% of the home's value at 65, up to about 53% at 70, and up to about 58% at 75, on the market's highest-lending products. Applied to the local real estate board's July 2026 benchmark prices, that is roughly $167,000 to $191,000 on a typical London condo apartment, roughly $281,000 to $323,000 on a typical London home of any type, and roughly $306,000 to $352,000 on a typical single-family house. These are ceilings rather than quotes, and a free estimate works out the real figure for your own home.
Who offers reverse mortgages in London?
All four of Canada's reverse mortgage lenders — HomeEquity Bank (CHIP), Equitable Bank, Home Trust and Bloom — lend on London homes, and all four are government regulated. A London address sits comfortably inside every one of their service areas. Two of the four cannot be reached by phoning around, though: one lends only through mortgage brokers, and another's highest-lending product is available only through the broker channel. That is why comparing all four takes a broker, and the comparison costs the homeowner nothing.
Do you have an office in London?
No. The brokerage's office is in Waterdown, near Hamilton, and an Ontario mortgage broker's licence covers the whole province — so London clients are served the same way clients across Ontario are: by email, phone and video call. Every number arrives in writing, so the figures can be read twice and shared with family before anything is decided — and an in-person meeting at the office can be arranged if you prefer one. In London itself, the appraiser visits the home, and the required legal appointment is a short visit to a London lawyer's office.
Who has the lowest reverse mortgage rates in London, Ontario?
No lender prices by city. Reverse mortgage rates are set the same way across Ontario, so a London homeowner and a Toronto homeowner see the same posted schedule on the same day. What moves the actual rate is the person and the property — age, the home, the product chosen, and the length of the term. The posted rate is also the retail price rather than the final one: unpublished broker-channel specials routinely land below the advertised figure. So the lowest rate is found by comparing all four lenders on one specific home, not by searching for a city.
See the real number for your London home
Get a free, no-obligation estimate and find out exactly how much you could access — compared across every reverse mortgage lender in Canada, with no impact on your credit.
Get my free estimate About the author
Richard Hopkins
Licensed Mortgage Broker · M16000896
Richard has worked in the mortgage business since 2013 — first as a mortgage agent, today a licensed mortgage broker — and leads the reverse mortgage practice at Homestead Financial — Dominion Lending Centres, an FSRA-licensed Ontario brokerage (#11711) with roots in the industry since 1999 and more than 2,500 mortgages funded. More about Richard →
This article is general information for Canadian homeowners, not personal financial, legal, or tax advice. Everyone's situation is different — please get advice on your own numbers before making a decision.