Almost half a million pensioners in the UK still have not paid off their mortgages, SunLife reveals.
SunLife’s third Life Well Spent report surveyed more than 2,000 people over 50.
Of the 69% that are homeowners, 23% still have a mortgage, owing £67,478 on average.
While 86% of those with outstanding mortgages are still working, the research shows that 14% of those still paying off their mortgages are retired.
This means that of all pensioners in the UK, one in 20 (5%) are still burdened with paying monthly mortgage payments.
On average, these retired mortgage holders still owe an average of £63,643, which is costing them £765.75 a month.
A pensioner’s household income is just over £30,000 (£31,063.84), which means almost a third (30%) of their entire income is still being spent on housing, totalling £9,192 a year.
Research shows that the vast majority of retirees say they love their home, and they never want to move.
Half (48%) say they don’t think they’ll have to, but more than one in five (21%) say they really don’t want to leave their home, but fear they will struggle financially if they don’t downsize to a cheaper property.
SunLife chief executive officer Mark Screeton says: “According to our research, the average homeowner pensioner has a home worth more than £330,000, but a household income of just over £30,000.”
“This means that the vast majority are cash poor and property rich, and while most own their homes outright, around 1 in 20 still have a mortgage. For those people, a huge chunk – almost a third – of that relatively modest income is still being spent on housing.”
“It could make sense for some of these people to tap into that equity that is tied up in their homes. But for many, downsizing to free up the cash is not an option – often it is too expensive, or they are emotionally tied to or physically dependent on their homes.”
