Over-60s are sitting on more than half (56 per cent) of owner-occupier housing wealth across the UK, according to an estimate from a property firm.
Savills, which made the calculations, also estimated that over-75s account for nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of property wealth, while under-35s hold six per cent.
The firm estimated that owner-occupiers aged 60-plus hold £2.89 trillion of net wealth in homes.
However, the over-60s are not completely debt-free. Savills calculated that they have a total of £60 billion mortgage borrowing still outstanding — equating to two per cent of the total value of their homes.
Older homeowners tend to make up relatively high concentrations of homeowners overall in the South West and Wales and relatively low ones in London, Savills said.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “Over the past 10 years, debt has become a less important component of the growth in the value of the nation’s housing stock, with increasingly more equity concentrated among older homeowners and investors.
“The baby boomers have continued to build wealth, having paid off their mortgage debt, and Generation X has been working hard to achieve the same goal. Meanwhile, Generations Y and Z have had much less opportunity to work their way up the housing ladder profitably.”
Mr Cook said the provision of more retirement housing, along with other incentives to make downsizing more appealing are “fundamentally important”.
He added: “Such measures would help unlock much-needed family housing and equity that can be used to help younger generations get on and trade up the housing ladder.”
Savills used various research sources, including figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Census data and the English Housing Survey.
Estimates of over-60s’ net owner-occupier housing wealth across the UK:
Region |
Housing wealth |
South East |
£603 billion |
London |
£400 billion |
East of England |
£354 billion |
South West |
£326 billion |
North West |
£234 billion |
West Midlands |
£212 billion |
Scotland |
£186 billion |
East Midlands |
£178 billion |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
£169 billion |
Wales |
£106 billion |
North East |
£64 billion |
Northern Ireland |
£54 billion |
Source: Savills
