To wonder how many people are relying on their house as a pension

[Kudja]

I live in the Home Counties where house prices are nuts. We (probably naively) do think of our house as a bit of a pension pot and expect that we will have to downsize to release equity in retirement. I’m wondering how many others are thinking this way too - and if there will be a decrease in house prices in 20-30years time as we all scrabble to downsize?!

I have a friend who works in pensions and she thinks a lot of people will end up having to through a combination of high house prices meaning people have less money to save in traditional pension products/ plus needing far more of a pension pot to fund older age.

@tigerbear lucky you. Some of us can't move back to our home towns because we are outpriced by everyone who had the fortune to buy in London/South east and now decides to move north or wherever.

We have workplace pensions, but hopefully will add to them by downsizing after the kids leave home.

@Tegelflughafen I am from the north, and will be moving back to my hometown.
I appreciate I’m fortunate to do so, but living in London hasn’t been a bed of roses.

Nope.
When we downsize we want to move closer to amenities so a smaller property will cost the same as our family home

Not really, we have good pension pots though so I know we are lucky. We might downsize as we have a large house, but would be more likely to use any spare to help the children with house deposits etc I think

Equally I think it's nice that my parents haven't downsized yet as it means it is easy to go and stay with them even with all the children

Some of us can't move back to our home towns because we are outpriced by everyone who had the fortune to buy in London/South east and now decides to move north or wherever.

Where are people from London allowed to move too if priced out of London? I'm a born & raised Londoner & can't afford to buy in my hometown.

@hurtyb I have the same sentiments. I was raised in an idyllic commuter belt village in Kent, that Im priced out of returning to. Instead I've bought a house in the South East, somewhere I have no particular affinity with, but I can afford. Am I frowned upon for moving elsewhere eventually because I'm pricing someone out of their hometown, when I've been priced out of mine?

I guess we can thank the wall of foreign money in London and its ripple effect.