Renting affects the resilience of all age groups. 

Only one fifth of Millennial/Gen Z households who rent are on track for a moderate retirement income, compared to 51 per cent of homeowners.

For Gen X households, only 15 per cent of households who rent are on track compared to 56 per cent of homeowners.

All data comes from the latest version of Hargreaves Lansdown’s Savings and Resilience Barometer.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown writes: It’s no secret that getting that all important first step on the housing ladder is getting harder, but long-term renting risks leaving our retirement resilience in ruins. 

The latest data from HL’s Savings and Resilience Barometer shows less than one in five renting households are on track for a moderate income in retirement – this compares to over half of homeowning households.

Spiralling house prices have made it much more difficult to buy your first home. People are either buying later or not at all, and those that do get that all important toehold on the ladder are often taking longer mortgage terms so they can keep their costs low. 

This is having an enormous impact on people’s ability to prepare for retirement as many more people approach and enter retirement still paying housing costs. This not only impacts their ability to save, they also need to save much more to account for the fact they have to pay these costs into retirement.

You can see the enormous impact this is having on people. 

Only one-fifth of millennial/Gen Z households who rent are on track for a moderate retirement income though it’s to be hoped that over time more of these households will become homeowners and are able to free up income to help them get on track. 

Younger people can make use of products such as the Lifetime ISA to help them build up a decent deposit. If you contribute up to £4,000 per year you will benefit from a 25% government bonus that can really help you build up your savings. 

However, LISAs are only available to people aged between 18-40 so older savers can’t make use of them.

The picture gets decidedly grimmer the older you get. 

Only 15 per cent of Gen X and Baby Boomer households who rent are on track for a moderate income and with the clock ticking down to their retirement many risk having to make some tough decisions around needing to work longer or reducing their retirement expectations to make ends meet.

* Helen Morrissey is head of retirement analysis at business consultancy Hargreaves Lansdown *