Just under half of Britons aged 16 and over – 43 per cent – believe that putting money into property is the best route to a comfortable retirement, shows data released by the Office for National Statistics.

On the other hand, 27 per cent believe that an employer pension will eventually generate the greatest return, and just 6 per cent plumped for the personal pension option – not much more than the 5 per cent who responded by saying that a savings account would offer the most growth.

Those aged 35 to 44 are the most confident cohort regarding property, with 47 per cent believing it is the best place to put money, followed by those aged 25 to 35, where 46 per cent have a similar way of thinking.

Respondents aged 16 to 24, meanwhile are the biggest believers in a fruitful employee pension, at 31 per cent, followed by those aged 55 to 64, of which 30 per cent chose this option.

It appears that generally, people think about the relationship between perceived risk and reward as evidenced by the next results taking on a mirror image: When asked what the safest way is to save for retirement, 45 per cent of Britons over 16 selected an employee pension and 12 per cent a personal pension. A quarter, 25 per cent, said that property is the safest place to put money.

Among its many other questions, the ONS also asked about on what funds people expect to live when retired. Nearly a quarter said that they would use money garnered from downsizing – 23 per cent – while 2 per cent said they would borrow against the value of their home.

Meanwhile, 69 per cent responded with an occupational of personal pension, and 86 per cent chose a state pension.

Of those aged 65 and over, 95 per cent replied with a state pension, with this figure slowly decreasing with age. But not by much – 82 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 expect to use a state pension for retirement, as do 67 per cent of those aged 16 to 24.

Quilter retirement expert Ian Browne says: “Well over half of people now see pensions as the safest way to save for retirement, up from just 47 per cent a decade ago. That is a significant shift and it shows that people are starting to recognise the enormous benefits of saving into a pension. No other asset offers the same opportunity to realise long-term investment growth from liquid assets, combined with incentives like pension tax relief and tax-free cash.

“However, there is still a significant minority of people that feel property is the safest way to save. People take comfort from bricks and mortar, and many of us have a long-held obsession with property. This is no surprise after decades of rising house prices but it could be a risky strategy.

“For starters, property is illiquid by nature so isn’t always suitable as a retirement asset, and increasing house prices shouldn’t be treated as a given. A failure to build enough new homes has propped up property values, but it is dangerous to assume this will always be the case as planning law begins to be relaxed.”