Retirement Housing Cost Calculator
Add up housing costs against retirement income to see what share of a pension goes on the home and what is left for everything else.
💼 Are you a real estate agent or broker? Send this calculator to your buyers on your own branded listing page — every enquiry comes straight to your WhatsApp. Create free agent page →Housing is normally the largest line in a retirement budget, and it does not stop when the mortgage does. Property tax, insurance, energy, maintenance and any service charge continue for as long as you own the building, and several of them rise faster than pension income.
Seeing the total as a share of income is what makes the retirement housing decision concrete — whether to clear the mortgage, whether to downsize, and how much of the pension is actually available for living.
What is counted
Every recurring cost of keeping the home: any remaining mortgage, property tax, insurance, energy and water, a maintenance set-aside, and any service charge. Maintenance belongs in it even though it arrives irregularly, because the money has to exist when the roof does not.
Worked example
On a 32,000 annual retirement income — about 2,667 a month — with no mortgage, 250 of property tax, 70 of insurance, 180 of energy and water and a 300 maintenance set-aside, housing costs 800 a month. That is 30% of income, leaving 1,867 for everything else. Add a 900 mortgage still running and housing takes 63.7%, which is not sustainable on that income.
Test it against costs rising faster than income
Energy, insurance and property tax have all risen faster than pension increases in many countries. Re-run this with each of those a third higher: if the result is unaffordable, that is a downsizing or mortgage-clearing decision better made early than at seventy-five.
Turn a calculation into an enquiry
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Create your free property pageFrequently asked questions
What share of retirement income should housing take?
Under a third is comfortable for most retirees, and above half is a warning sign, particularly since energy and tax tend to rise faster than pension income. The lower the income, the lower that share needs to be.
Should I clear the mortgage before retiring?
Usually if you can do it without exhausting savings, because a fixed payment against a fixed income leaves no flexibility. Weigh it against keeping an accessible reserve, since a paid-off house is not money you can spend.
Does downsizing solve it?
It reduces both the capital tied up and the running costs, often substantially. Run the downsizing calculation first, since transaction costs consume a large share of the price difference and a small move may not be worth making.