![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/for-rent-sign.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPensioners who rent their homes could face housing costs of up to \u00a3400,000 during retirement, leaving many at risk of exhausting their pension savings.<\/p>\n
With typical private pension pots worth just \u00a3154,000 for those approaching retirement, many could struggle to cover decades of rent after leaving work.<\/p>\n
The warning comes in a new report, Pensions Adequacy: Housing, Households and Auto-Enrolment, commissioned by the ABI and produced by the Pensions Policy Institute.<\/p>\n
Researchers found that renting a two-bedroom home throughout retirement could cost between \u00a3200,000 and \u00a3400,000, depending on where someone lives.<\/p>\n
The report argues Britain’s pension system was built for a country that no longer exists, with rising numbers of renters, changing family structures and more fragmented careers leaving more people at risk of falling short in retirement.<\/p>\n
When auto-enrolment was introduced, it was based on the assumption that most workers would own their homes outright by retirement. Researchers say that assumption is becoming increasingly outdated.<\/p>\n
By 2044, nearly two million more pensioner households are expected to be renting, representing a threefold increase on current levels.<\/p>\n
The report also warns that changing household structures and interrupted working lives are making it harder for many people to build enough retirement income.<\/p>\n
The research builds on evidence from the Pensions Commission’s Interim Report and concludes that pension savings alone can no longer determine whether someone will have enough money in retirement.<\/p>\n
Several other groups face heightened risks of retirement shortfalls, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Nearly two million more pensioner households are expected to be renting by 2044 <\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
Single people require approximately 28 per cent more income than couples to maintain an equivalent standard of living.<\/p>\n
Divorce poses another threat to retirement security, with just 11 per cent of separating couples arranging to share their pension assets.<\/p>\n
Survivor benefits under Defined Contribution pension schemes are no longer guaranteed and depend on decisions made when someone retires.<\/p>\n
Self-employed workers face particularly difficult circumstances, having no access to Auto-Enrolment, no employer contributions and no automatic system to encourage saving.<\/p>\n
![\"Older](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/older-couple-and-empty-pension-pot.jpg\")
Typical pension savings of \u00a3154,000 fall well short of the cost of renting throughout retirement<\/p>\n
| GETTY <\/p>\n
Research from PensionBee found that someone working for themselves on \u00a330,000 annually is projected to retire with \u00a364,000 less than an employee earning the same amount.<\/p>\n
Maike Currie, VP Personal Finance at PensionBee, said the findings reveal fundamental problems with how the pension system operates.<\/p>\n
“This report lays bare a structural mismatch at the heart of the pensions system. Auto-Enrolment was designed for a Britain where most people bought a home, stayed in one job for years and retired as part of a stable couple household.<\/p>\n
“Today Britain looks very different, with rising housing costs, more fragmented careers and changing family structures,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Currie called for policymakers to use Self-Assessment tax returns to encourage pension saving among the self-employed, describing it as a simple reform that could transform retirement outcomes.<\/p>\n
She also urged the government to reduce the Auto-Enrolment starting age from 22 to 18, giving younger workers more time to benefit from compound growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pensioners who rent their homes could face housing costs of up to \u00a3400,000 during retirement, leaving many at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,2222,4178,2331,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-money","tag-pensions","tag-sgg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}