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Pensioners hit by house price falls

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 2:43 PM

Many over-65s have been hit hard by a drop in house prices with those in the north affected most badly, research shows.

Pensioners in the UK currently have combined property assets totalling £751.3 billion, despite fluctuations in the housing market.

However, the apparent wealth is undermined by the fact that homeowners aged 65 and over lost a total of £18.4 billion in the past three months thanks to falling house prices, Key Retirement Solutions’ Pensioner Property Equity Index shows.

Scottish homeowners took the biggest hit: average losses on homes there were highest, at around £8,720 per person, compared with the national average of equivalent to £4,290 each.

OAPs in the North-East have also been badly affected, being on average £7,058 worse-off.

However, London, which along with the South-East accounts for nearly a third of the country's property equity, remained relatively untouched by the changes in house prices. In the capital, the over-65s own mortgage-less property worth £124.4 billion – and the South-East, the figure is £121 billion.

Dean Mirfin, group director at Key Retirement Solutions, said that "despite current volatility, it is clear the over-65s own considerable property wealth which still represents a massive investment success as they no longer have mortgages and will in most cases have bought more than 25 years ago."

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