Single female homeowners face the UK's widest retirement income shortfall, report finds
Independent consumer group Fairer Finance on Tuesday published new research urging the government to treat housing wealth as a mainstream part of retirement planning, as data shows single women are driving growth in Britain's equity release market – a trend mortgage brokers are being told to factor into later-life advice.
Single women lead new plan sales
The research, titled "Retirement Compass: the Later Life Finance Index," was commissioned by the Equity Release Council and combines economic modelling, consumer research and market-wide sales data from UK equity release providers. It found single women accounted for 32% of new equity release plans in the second half of 2025, compared with 18% for single men, with the remainder going to couples. Single women were also more likely than single men or couples to be aged 80 or older when taking out a new plan.
Fairer Finance's broader modelling found 65% of single female homeowners aged 55 to 79 will not meet the Pensions UK moderate living standard of £31,700 a year, compared with 44% of single male households, despite both groups holding similar average housing wealth of £225,000. Of 1.4 million single women in that age bracket falling short of the benchmark, roughly 700,000 hold housing wealth of £200,000 to £400,000, and 200,000 hold at least £400,000, according to the report.
Regionally, homeowners with a retirement income shortfall are most likely to consider downsizing if they live in the South of England, at 43%, followed by the Midlands, at 36%, the report found. Almost four in 10 single female homeowners with below-moderate income live in the South, with a further 16% in the Midlands.
London stood out across nearly every measure: average property values on new equity release plans there were 3.75 times higher than in the North East, and 20% of new London plans carried a loan-to-value above 40%, compared with 12% to 14% elsewhere, per the report.
Regulator, industry weigh in
James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, said "many of them are sitting on housing wealth that could unlock a better retirement." Jim Boyd, chief executive of the Equity Release Council, said "their home is their most significant financial asset."
Separately, Fairer Finance director Tim Hogg said the industry risked missing a major funding source if retirement planning stayed focused solely on pensions, telling Money Marketing it's important to help people save more into pensions, but a singular focus overlooks assets households already hold.
The report lands as the Financial Conduct Authority conducts a market study into lifetime and retirement interest-only mortgages, examining consumer understanding, advice quality and barriers to access across 2026, with a progress update expected by year-end, according to the regulator's terms of reference. Research from Suffolk Building Society found nearly two-thirds of surveyed brokers said their older clients still assumed all lenders applied age restrictions to lending, despite rising demand for later-life products.
Policy recommendations renewed
Fairer Finance renewed five recommendations from its 2025 report, calling on government and regulators to increase supply of retirement-suitable housing, cut stamp duty for later-life downsizers, normalise use of housing wealth in retirement planning, create a combined view of pension and housing assets, and reform Financial Conduct Authority rules on later-life advice to reduce silos between pensions and property.
The Second Pensions Commission's interim report found 15 million people in the UK are under-saving for retirement, with one in 10 working-age people on course for later-life poverty, Fairer Finance said, citing the commission's findings.
