42pc of retired tenants former home owners Prudential found that retired renters pay £423 a month in rent typically, compared with £257 a month on average for retirees who still have mortgages. Prudential previously found that people retiring this year expect to have an income of around £15,300 a year, meaning average rental costs would take up around one third of this sum at just over £5,000. Stan Russell, senior pensions business development manager at Prudential, said: "Renting in retirement can make financial sense and accessing property wealth to boost retirement income is a genuine solution for many. Our research shows that many retired renters are perfectly happy with this arrangement. However, retirees should be aware of the extra financial burden they could be taking on if they choose to sell up and rent. The fact that some retirees say they are being forced to sell up purely by the need to pay off debts is concerning and suggests they are not receiving professional advice. Organisations like the Money Advice Service and Citizens Advice offer free advice and can help enormously. The study found that around one quarter of retirees rent their home and nearly three quarters of them plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Seven per cent used some money from the sale of the property to help their children get on the property ladder. Fears have recently been raised for people in the later stages of their working lives who are sitting on an interest-only mortgage "time bomb." They may be forced to sell their homes if they do not have a proper plan in place to pay their loans back once the deal comes to an end. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently sounded a "wake up call" to borrowers and told them they must be prepared to communicate with lenders to work out what steps to take. Up to 1.3 million interest-only customers do not have enough cash to pay their loans back. Around 740 people who are retired took part in the Prudential research across the UK.