The ‘huge burden’ of rising housing costs could lead to more people putting their retirement dreams on ice, Hargreaves Lansdown says.

The Department for Levelling Up Communities and Housing has released data from the English Housing Survey which shows the average mortgage payment for the over 65s is £209 per week.

According to the statistics, only the 35-44 age group pay more (£210 per week).

While the vast majority of people aged 65 to 74 were owner occupiers in 2021/2022 (77%), 7% of them were still repaying a mortgage.

Those ‘significant number of households’, Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of retirement analysis Helen Morrissey says, are having to find a ‘significant chunk of change every month’.

The government statistics also show that over a quarter (25.5%) of social renters are retired, along with 6.8% of all private renters.

Morrissey adds: “The dream of entering retirement mortgage free remains intact for many but for those who got on the property market late, or not at all, housing costs remain a huge burden.

“At least mortgage holders can envision a time when the loan will be repaid, and they can free up the extra cash for other things.

“However, for those who rent the obligation is never ending.”

She says that, for those people paying housing costs in retirement, the amount they need to allow for is ‘much, much higher’.

“Recent government data indicated people who retired during the pandemic were considering a return to the workforce,” she adds.

“We could see a growing number of them deciding to put their retirement dreams on ice in a bid to make ends meet.”