The retirement income specialist found that homeowners in England aged 55 and over currently own £1.5trn worth of property – £0.1trn more than Italy’s annual GDP.

With 6.3 million over-55s owning their home outright, this makes English over-55s some of the most property rich people in the world.

More money, more equity

And the level of locked-up housing wealth is predicted to grow massively. The research shows the long-term growth pattern of over-55s property wealth, with the forecasted figure for 20 years’ time standing at £2.9trn in England alone (based on a modest annual house price increase of 2% and the number of over-55s in England increasing by 5.3m between 2016 and 2036).

Simon Chalk, equity release expert at Age Partnership, said: “A small fortune is locked away in the houses owned by the older generation in England. The total property wealth of over-55s is already in the trillions – it even tops the GDP of Italy. This stored wealth cannot be ignored: housing must become a primary part of retirement financial planning and we need to open up more channels to help over-55s benefit from it.

“Over the next 20 years housing wealth will become increasingly important, as the baby-boomers generation reach retirement en-masse. Pensions will continue to cause a headache as the population ages. Adding property wealth to the mix could help alleviate that pressure. Equity release is already taking a starring role as it provides an alternative to downsizing but still enables over-55s to release cash from their homes.”