Mortgage debt haunts retirement plans

Middle aged Britons who intended upping their retirement income by releasing equity from their homes will already be reworking their sums as a result of the property market downturn.

However, according to research from Impartial.co.uk, the website that provides details of the UK’s independent mortgage advisers, one in three over 55s could be heading into retirement with mortgage debt.

The analysis found that the average homeowner in this group still owes £55,046 to their bank, and has 7.8 years left to run on their mortgage.

The average monthly repayment is £725, which compares with an average of £850 for homeowners aged between 35 and 55, who are typically paying back £92,153 over 13.4 years.

The research also found that around 1.4 million homeowners over the age of 55 have home loans that will take 10 years to clear and will therefore be past retirement age before they are free of mortgage debt.

In addition, many will be burdened with debts on credit cards and other unsecured loans.

Alarmingly, over one-third of parents questioned in the survey thought they would need to continue to support their adult children once they have retired.

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