Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of non-retired homeowners have no pension savings, research by Legal & General Home Finance (LGHF) has revealed.

The study also found that a further 35 per cent of non-retired homeowners had less than £10,000 in their pension pots.

LGHF’s research revealed that 22 per cent of people planning for later life expected to use the value of their home to fund their retirement.

The firm noted that insufficient pension pots and high house prices were pushing more people to consider using their property wealth to fund their retirement.

The change was being driven by the significant number of small or empty pension pots coupled with the 24 per cent increase in median house price values in England and Wales since 2016, according to LGHF.

LGHF detailed how people were expecting to use their property for their retirements with 10 per cent planning to downsize, 9 per cent expecting to sell their property and 6 per cent planning to access equity via a lifetime mortgage.

Commenting on the findings, LGHF CEO, Claire Singleton said: “The significant increase in house prices in recent years has likely shifted many people’s expectations of the role property wealth will eventually play in supporting retirement.

“We anticipate that using your home to fund your retirement will become more commonplace in the future, whether that’s by downsizing to free up funds or releasing money tied up in your home through products like lifetime mortgages.

“It’s never too early to start thinking about how you plan to fund retirement and seek appropriate advice to get your affairs in order, and for many homeowners their property could be the key to getting the lifestyle they desire.”

Singleton also emphasised the importance of these new funding methods, suggesting that they should be normalised to help savers “achieve better financial outcomes in retirement”.

Share Story: