Homeowners aged 60 and above are currently holding an unprecedented £2.95 trillion in property assets, with a staggering 98 percent of this amount being mortgage-free. This assessment highlights the significant generational disparity in housing wealth across the UK.

According to data from estate agency Savills, £2.89 trillion of this property wealth is owned outright by individuals over 60, while only £60 billion, or 2 percent, is tied up in mortgages. In contrast, homeowners under 45 possess £1.56 trillion in real estate, with nearly 47 percent, amounting to £734 billion, represented by outstanding mortgages.

The financial burden intensifies for younger homeowners, as those under 35 have £600 billion in property, but also bear a total of £300 billion in mortgages.

When examining homeownership percentages, those over 60 control 56 percent of the total owner-occupier housing wealth in the UK, excluding landlords, with individuals over 75 managing nearly 23 percent. Homeowners under 35 account for just 6 percent of this wealth.

Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills, remarked, “Baby boomers have steadily increased their wealth by paying off their mortgage debts, while Generation X has been striving towards similar financial goals. In contrast, younger generations, namely millennials and Gen Z, are facing significant challenges breaking into the housing market profitably.”

Regionally, the Savills data reveals a pronounced concentration of housing wealth among over-60s in the southeast, which holds £603 billion, followed by £400 billion in London. Conversely, Northern Ireland exhibits the lowest regional wealth, totaling £54 billion. It is important to note that these figures do not account for assets owned by landlords.

Experts warn that these generational gaps could represent some of the most pronounced disparities in the UK. However, they suggest that a considerable transfer of wealth and property from the silent generation (born from 1925 to 1945) and baby boomers to younger generations is anticipated over the next decade, often triggered by inheritance or strategic tax planning.

Last year, Knight Frank’s “Wealth Report” forecasted a substantial transfer of assets in the coming two decades that would propel millennials from being property have-nots to potentially becoming the wealthiest generation in history.

Cook posits that this property transfer to millennials could be expedited if older generations were provided with suitable options to downsize.

“Enhancing retirement housing options and introducing incentives to encourage downsizing are critical. Such strategies would facilitate access to much-needed family housing and equity, enabling younger generations to more effectively enter and ascend the property ladder,” Cook noted.

He further highlighted that the scarcity of downsizing opportunities is illustrated by the fact that while baby boomers account for 44 percent of homeowners, they represented only 18.5 percent of homebuyers last year, with merely one in 57 opting to move.