'Silver splitters' are the new generation of renters

Do you have a dream? What’s your dream? Is it to see out your twilight years in a home you own outright, having freed yourself from the shackles of the mortgage lender? If so, that’s a good dream.

Sadly, social upheaval, a rise in the divorce rate, access to easy credit and the growth in lifetime mortgages have all combined to make that ambition more of a pipe dream than a reality.

Yesterday came the news that up to one in ten over-55s homeowners across the UK still have interest-only mortgages. This means they must pay the entire capital debt off when the deal runs out. According to the over-60s property expert Homewise which conducted the research, the average amount owed by this group is around £91,000, with one in seven owing more than £150,000. That’s a lot of money to find in the run-up to retirement.