Britons remain hopeful that property price rise will boost retirement fund.

Our passion for property has left our older generation feeling decidedly lacklustre over retirement prospects.

According to a recent poll 12% of homeowners aged 50 and over are relying on capital growth from their homes to part-fund their non-working years. The good old days of uphill property prices, has meant that fewer contributions were made to pension schemes in the belief that the price rise would continue.

The expectation continues despite the average home having lost £27,250 in value the past two years, with 29% of the 4,000 people questioned expecting prices to recover in three to five years. Meanwhile, 17% are proposing to revamp their homes to allow for losses while a further 21% will actually save more for their retirement. Nationwide reported that the average price of a home increased by 0.5% in November, marking the seventh consecutive monthly increase and taking annual house price inflation to 2.7%.

It seems that even with both pensions and property having taken a battering lately, faith in good old bricks and mortar remains.