Giving a speech at the JPMorgan Pensions and Savings Symposium 2025, chief executive Nikhil Rathi said buying a first home, paying down a mortgage, building a pension and using housing wealth later in life were “not isolated events” but “junctions on the same financial journey”.
Rathi asked if more could be done to reflect this through policy, regulation, products and services.
He said the regulator was already looking at options to improve and simplify mortgage regulation, to widen access and options for borrowers, but the sector needed to challenge itself and “take a more holistic approach across retail markets”.
Pension auto-enrolment was associated with lower defaults and higher credit scores, according to research from NEST Insight. Rathi asked if more could be done to implement pension saving behaviour into mortgage and credit affordability assessments.
Rathi said this was possible in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and the US and questioned if similar could be done in the UK.
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He said: “This would rely on individuals having engaged with their pensions and saved in the first place, which speaks to my earlier points around investment culture and advice.”
Rathi said there would also be trade-offs, such as factoring in the ability of savers to replace withdrawn funds, the impact on house prices and whether it would be better for people and the economy for them to invest in a wider range of productive assets.
He added: “As we think more radically about the mortgage market and options to support homeownership, what might this mean for saving, including for pensions, more broadly?”
Rathi referred to data from the Equity Release Council, which estimates 39% of current renters expect to still be renting in retirement, and Standard Life’s research, which suggested renters needed £400,000 more in savings.
He continued: “Is the UK pension market, which assumes high levels of owner-occupation, prepared for this? If we continue to treat pensions, mortgages and savings as separate tracks, we will miss opportunities to help consumers get where they need to be.
“But if we build a network that truly connects, we can get more people on the way to financial security in retirement.”
Rathi said this would need policy and regulation that supported better decisions, a cultural shift towards long-term value creation and forward-looking conversations about risk and trade-offs.
He concluded: “This is a moment for collective ambition and collaboration across the system. Because if we can get this right, we won’t just help more people navigate their financial lives and reach retirement with confidence. We’ll help our economy reach a stronger, more resilient future too.”
On the potential changes, LCP partner Steve Webb, said: “It is very encouraging to hear the head of the FCA talking to positively about thinking radically about how we save. For too long we have saved in separate ‘buckets’ with money for a pension in one place, short term savings for emergency needs in another, and money for a house deposit somewhere else.
“There is much to be said for trying to meet these needs in a single financial product, supported by workplace automatic enrolment, which could help more people become homeowners and reduce the risk of them having to fund a rent out of their modest retirement income. I look forward to the FCA’s consultation later this year and hope to see these ideas investigated in greater detail.”
This article was first published on our sister site, Mortgage Solutions. Read: FCA considers allowing pension savings for home deposits
