Research into Gen X has identified that over a quarter (27%) are not confident they would pay off their mortgage before age 67 with 13% firmly believing they wouldn’t and a further 14% unsure if they could. 45% of those who have a mortgage say it’s taking longer to pay off than hoped throwing a “spotlight on the mortgage repayment struggles fuelling Generation Anxiety.”
Gen X are those born between 1965-1980, and follow the baby boomer generation (1946-64) and precede the millennial generation (1981-96). Report authors Just Group say there is a distinct divide between those who live in London and the rest of the UK. Double the number of Gen X (26%) London residents with a mortgage said they didn’t expect to repay their mortgage before 67 compared to the national average of 13%.
The research drilled into common reasons with a third (34%) saying that they had needed to extend the mortgage term to reduce monthly payments. 32% said that they had to extend the term to pay for home improvements, and more than a fifth (23%) said it was because they extended the term due to increased interest payments after the increases in Bank of England base interest rates.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said:
“About three-quarters of the Gen X cohort own their own homes but many are struggling to clear their mortgage within the expected time frame. This group find their finances stretched and are faced with the unenviable choice of either clearing the mortgage or saving for a pension.
“People’s budgets are being squeezed as they juggle competing pressures. As a result, we are seeing growing anxiety among this demographic that many will approach retirement still carrying the burden of making their mortgage repayments.
“This is felt more acutely among those in London, where property prices are higher and nearly double the national average of Gen X homeowners with a mortgage worry that they will still be saddled with a mortgage as they enter retirement.”
