Hundreds of thousands of Brits are taking out mortgages that will continue in their retirement, new data has found.
In the last three years, researchers have noted a surge in mortgage terms which see homeowners locked into mortgages running beyond the state pension age.
This is particularly rife among those under 30, data from the Bank of England highlighted.
Interest rates currently sit at 16-year highs, leading house buyers to pick a longer repayment period to reduce monthly payments.
"The challenge of getting on the housing ladder is forcing large numbers of young home buyers to gamble with their retirement prospects by taking on ultra-long mortgages," said Steve Webb, the former pensions minister and partner at LCP, the financial services group.
Webb added that homeowners are also using retirement pots to pay off lump sums of mortgages. something that could put them at risk of poverty in older age.
In 2021, Bank of England data showed around 31% of new mortgages were set to be fully paid off after the buyer had reached the state pension age.
In 2023, this rose to 42%, with the final quarter of all three years seeing around 300,000 new mortgages of this type issued.