Over 55s hold £3.7 trillion in property wealth, accounting for 68% of the UK’s total private housing equity, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed.
A data request submitted to the ONS following the publication of its Wealth & Assets survey earlier this year reveals the sheer scale of financial wealth held in property by those aged over 55 and highlights the importance of property as part of household wealth, offering a resource that can be accessed later in life, said retirement specialist Just Group.
Between the period April 2020 – March 2022, those aged between 55-64 owned the greatest amount of private property wealth with a total value of £1.4 trillion, amounting to 25% of the nation’s private housing wealth. Those aged 65-74 hold £1.2 trillion (23%) and those aged over 75 hold £1.1 trillion (20%).
Meanwhile, the 45-54 age group owns £1 trillion of housing wealth, with that figure declining sharply to £537 billion among 35-44 year olds and £219 billion among 25-34 year olds.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said: “The sheer scale of property wealth held by older people enables them to plug into the powerhouse of financial resources held in their homes to meet a range of needs in later life, from topping up their own income in retirement to helping family.
“The ability to tap into this wealth will be particularly useful for people who may be entering retirement without the security of a defined benefit pension and with only modest defined contribution pensions. It can also power the next generation of home-ownership as parents use the wealth they have stored in their homes to help their children climb onto the property ladder.”
Lowe added that the continued freeze on inheritance tax thresholds is likely to tip more estates into paying the tax and using property wealth to make living inheritances could provide homeowners with a way of reducing the impact of IHT.
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