22% of workers plan to use their home to fund their retirement, as house prices continue to soar

• 22% of current workers plan on using the value of their home to fund their retirement, following record house price increases
• A third all non-retirees (35%) have less than £10,000 in their pension pot but own a property
• The average homeowner in England and Wales could access £72,988 in equity release based on analysis of median house prices, which could greatly improve the retirement of the 70% of over 65s who are ‘state pension dependent’ but are also homeowners.

The findings indicate that a third of all people who aren’t currently retired (35%) own a property but have less than £10,000 saved in their pension pot. A further 22% of people hold no pensions savings at all. The significant number of small or empty pots, coupled with the 24% increase in median house price values in England and Wales since 2016², could be driving more people to consider using their property wealth to fund their retirement. Based on current house prices in England and Wales, the average homeowner could access over £72,988 in equity release, for instance³. People who aren’t currently retired expect to downsize their property (10%), sell their property (9%) or access equity via a lifetime mortgage (6%) to help fund their later life.

While many people looking ahead to retirement are hoping to access property wealth there are a significant number of retired homeowners who could also benefit from considering the role their property might play in funding their lifestyle. Nearly two-thirds of people over 65 (70%) are dependent on the state pension as their main source of income and are also homeowners.