Over-60s people's property wealth reaches a record high

According to recent data from the real estate company Savills, property owners in their 60s are thought to be sitting on a record-breaking £289 trillion in net housing wealth, and they are beginning to show the first indications of wanting to downsize

The over-60s own more than half (56 percent) of all housing wealth in the UK. Just the over 75s hold nearly a quarter (23 percent) of the market.

The numbers stand in sharp contrast to the under-35 demographic, which accounts for only 6% of the total, according to Savills.

According to the most recent Savills housing wealth assessment, homes owned by people 60 and older are valued at a total of 2.95 trillion.

The largest tenure type in the UK in terms of value is that of outright home owners. As more elderly homeowners have been mortgage-free over the past ten years, their portion of the property value has increased.

In the last ten years, the number of older people who are mortgage-free has increased at a "above average" rate, according to Savills.

However, not all people in their 60s are debt-free. According to Savills' research, they still owe about 60 billion in mortgage debt. This only amounts to 2% of their homes' overall value, though.

To what extent do other generations own property?

For those under 35, the situation is very different. They own property valued at 600 billion, but they still owe about half of that amount (300 billion) in mortgage debt.

Savills' head of residential research, Lucian Cook, states: "Over the last ten years, debt has played a smaller role in the increase in the value of the country's housing stock, with an increasing amount of equity concentrated among older investors and homeowners.

After paying off their mortgage debt, the baby boomers have continued to accumulate wealth, and Generation X has been putting in a lot of effort to do the same.

"Gen Y and Z have had fewer opportunities to profitably climb the housing ladder in the interim.

Why do elderly homeowners not reduce their homes?

Numerous elderly homeowners continue to cling to homes that are now too large for their requirements. However, they don't seem very eager to move.

According to Savills, only 1 in 57 boomers moved last year, despite making up 44% of homeowners and 18% of homebuyers.

Cook states that "the provision of more retirement housing, along with other incentives to make downsizing more appealing are also 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 continues.

The areas with the largest concentration of owner-occupier wealth are not those with the largest numbers of baby boomers.

In Wales and the South West, baby boomers account for the largest percentage of homeowners (49 percent), and they are also well-liked by retirees and downsizers for lifestyle-related reasons.

The lowest percentage of London homeowners, however, are over 60 (38 percent).

But in the South East, owner-occupier wealth is highest in terms of value. In this region of the nation, people over 60 own 603 billion dollars in housing wealth, which accounts for 21% of the net housing wealth held by this age group.

The sum is 171 billion more than the sum of Wales and the South West combined, and 203 billion more than London.