Half a million pensioners are still paying off a mortgage costing them a third of their income, as monthly payments come at £766 on average.

On average, retired mortgage holders still owe thousands, according to research from over 50s financial specialist SunLife.

SunLife’s Life Well Spent report surveyed more than 2,000 people over 50 and discovered that of the 69% that are homeowners, more than 1 in 5 still have a mortgage, owing £67,478 on average.

While most of those with outstanding mortgages are still working, the research showed that 14% of those still paying off their mortgages are retired.

Sun Life said on average, the income of a pensioner's household was £31,063.84, so this meant almost a third of their entire income is still being spent on housing or £9,192 a year.

Mark Screeton, CEO at SunLife said: “According to our research, the average homeowner pensioner has a home worth more than £330,000, but a household income of just over £30,000.

“This means that the vast majority are cash poor and property rich, and while most own their homes outright, around 1 in 20 still have a mortgage. For those people, a huge chunk – almost a third – of that relatively modest income is still being spent on housing."

SunLife’s research found that the vast majority of retirees love their home, and they never want to move but fear they will struggle financially if they don’t downsize to a cheaper property.

Earlier this month, Just Group revealed that eight in 10 (79%) pensioner homeowners were failing to claim any of the benefits they were eligible to receive in 2024, missing out on an average of £1,807 a year in extra income.

Nearly one in 10 who were claiming were receiving too little, on average missing out on an additional £2,915 a year income.

Just found 33% were entitled to one of the key benefits including:

- Guarantee Pension Credit is the main benefit targeted at helping low-income pensioners. It was being claimed by only one in 10 of those pensioner homeowners who were eligible. Households failing to claim were losing an average £1,391 extra income per year.

- Savings Pension Credit – only 8% were eligible for the ‘top up’ benefit for low-income pensioners who have modest savings but only a quarter (25%) of those eligible were claiming, with the average annual loss £933 per household.

-Council Tax Reduction should be claimed by nearly three in 10 (29%) of households, but only a quarter of those were actually claiming with the average annual loss £1,067.