More than half a million retirees have not paid off their mortgages, according to research from SunLife.
SunLife surveyed 2,000 people over 50 and discovered that, of the 68% that were homeowners, 23% were still paying off their mortgage.
The research showed that 13% of those still paying off their mortgages were retired.
Just above 500,000 older people in the UK were still paying monthly mortgage payments.
On average, these mortgage holders owed £33,627; over a remaining 5-year term at the Bank of England base rate of 5.25% on a repayment mortgage, this would be a monthly payment of £638.
Mark Screeton, CEO at SunLife said: “According to our research, the average homeowner retiree has a home worth more than £320,000 but a household income of less than £30,000.
“For some of these people it could make sense to tap into the equity that’s tied up in their homes.
“So, let’s say a retiree has a home worth £327,020 and an outstanding mortgage of £33,627. If they were able to release 30% of their home’s value, that would be just over £98,000.
“Equity release is still a loan which accrues compound interest, but it doesn’t need to be repaid until you pass away or move into care permanently.
“Even if you chose to make repayments to cover the interest on the equity release loan, these could still be considerably less than the repayments on a standard mortgage.”
