People aged over 60 hold an estimated £2.89trn of owner-occupier property wealth in the UK, according to data from Savills.

This represented more than half (56 per cent) of all owner-occupier housing wealth across the country, while over-75s hold 23 per cent of the UK’s property wealth.

By comparison, those aged under 35 account for just 6 per cent of the UK’s total property wealth.

Although the over-60 age cohort holds the majority of housing wealth, Savills estimated that they still have around £60bn in outstanding mortgage borrowing, equivalent to 2 per cent of the total value of their homes.

Its research also identified regional differences, with higher concentrations of over-60s homeowners in the south west and Wales compared to London.

“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,” stated Savills head of residential research, Lucian Cook.

“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.”

Cook argued that greater retirement housing provision, alongside other incentives to make downsizing more tempting, were fundamentally important.

“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,” he said.

Over-60s net owner-occupier housing wealth was highest in the south east (£603bn), followed by London (£400bn), the east of England (£354bn), the south west (£326bn) and the north west (£234bn).

Meanwhile, the lowest figure was in Northern Ireland (£54bn), followed by the north east (£64bn), Wales (£106bn), and Yorkshire and the Humber (£169bn).

---