Thousands of people aged 50 and above cannot afford to repair their home and are poised to dip into their retirement savings to do so, according to later life insurer Saga.
Research from Saga’s equity release advice service found about 150,000 people aged 50 to 59 would take advantage of pension freedom and use their 25% tax free lump sum to fix essentials in and around their home. This may leave some struggling to fund their retirement, Saga warned.
Those drawing from their pension while still contributing could also risk being hit by cuts to the money purchase annual allowance from £10,000 to £4,000 taking effect this month.
Polling firm Populus interviewed 1,017 people aged 50 and over in March 2017 on behalf of Saga. Results have been weighted to be representative of all UK adults.
It found 14% of respondents thought their gutters needed fixing, while others had problems with their roofs, heating and plumbing.
About 300,000 people saw no way of fixing the issues while a further 420,000 considered using some sort of credit or loan to fund the maintenance.
According to Saga, people in their 70s are most likely to be living in a home in need of repair.
Saga personal finance head of product Gloria Barker said: “For many people who have lived a lifetime in a property and have become very attached to their home, it is very upsetting not to be able to maintain it, particularly if it also causes them discomfort with leaky roofs and not being able to keep as warm they want to.
“If people are worrying about how to pay for essential repairs it’s worthwhile exploring all their funding options as soon as possible to make sure the situation doesn’t get worse.”
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