Maldon District Council has seen the size of its pension scheme deficit increase by £5 billion to £25 billion.
Employees of the local authority could now seek equity release advice to see how the value of their homes could provide them with an additional retirement income.
Current accounts for the council have revealed that the deficit has increased by 25 per cent in the last year, the Maldon Standard reported.
Jon Cooke, head of financial services at the council, told the local newspaper that while the rise will not have an immediate impact on staff, the news means employees and employers will now be required to “inject more money into the fund from 2011-12 to deal with the increasing deficit”.
He added: “All public sector final salary schemes are under review nationally as they are unsustainable.”
Council workers aged over 55 years who have invested in a property could now be tempted to use an equity release calculator to see how the value of their investment could provide them with a tax-free cash lump sum to boost their retirement spending power.
Posted by Alison Stephenson
