HUB Financial Solutions, the advisory firm, is encouraging retired homeowners to check they are receiving their full entitlement to State Benefits following new analysis of ONS data showing that retired households living on the lowest incomes have high rates of home ownership.
ONS data splits retired households into five groups – quintiles – by their annual income. The bottom quintile has gross income of £12,706 a year and a home ownership rate of nearly four in five (79%).
This is a noticeably higher proportion of home ownership than the next two higher income quintiles – 67% of retired households in the 2nd quintile and 69% in the 3rd quintile own their own home.
It is also a similar rate of home ownership as those in the 4th income quintile (80%), despite people in that quintile having around three times as much gross income (£35,514).
Further research by HUB Financial Solutions reveals that many homeowners are deterred from checking their benefit entitlement because of the value of their property.
Nearly half of homeowners (46%) said they have never checked their benefit entitlement, with two in five (39%) of these saying it was because they assumed the value of their home meant they would not qualify.
Simon Gray, managing director at HUB Financial Solutions, said: “Among working age households, home ownership levels increase in line with income but among retired households the figures indicate that those with the least and most income are more likely to be homeowners than middle-income groups.
“That could be because during their working life, some people have prioritised paying off the mortgage over saving for retirement and now think that home ownership rules them out of receiving any State help. But that’s not necessarily the case and anybody struggling for income in retirement – whether they own their home or not – should make sure they are receiving their full benefit entitlement.”
