The value of people’s defined benefit (DB) pensions outstrips average property value for the majority of Britain, research by Hymans Robertson has found.

Analysis by the firm revealed that the overall UK average house price was £231,885 at the end of March, while the average value of a DB pension was £233,000 per person.

This follows a 0.2 per cent fall in property values according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, with a further decline expected.

Hymans Robertson has now warned that people must be aware of the importance and value of their DB pension as an asset as they plan for the long-term through an expected recession.

The firm emphasised that this was particularly important given “how vastly different” values were across different regions.

For instance, property in London grew by 4.7 per cent over the past year to £486,000, far outpacing the value of the average DB pension in this region.

Commenting on the findings, Hymans Robertson partner, Calum Cooper, added: “While it is no surprise to see that in the south of Britain, particularly London, that property values are highest, our analysis has shown that pension values are more far more consistent geographically.

“In fact, property values differ by eight times as much as pension values - whilst property values vary by almost 400 per cent by region, pension varies by less than 50p in the pound.

“DB pensions are a core part of long-term financial planning and those 11 million people who are fortunate to have one should think twice before being tempted to dip into them for easy cash as we head towards more challenging economic times."

He added: “As lockdown continues and then the predicted deep recession begins to bite people may sadly start to feel cash starved and may look to pensions for cash.

“So, it is so vitally important that people fully recognise the true worth of their pension alongside what is commonly considered the primary asset: the investment they have in their property.

“Pension is there for the long term and not an asset that should be hastily dipped in to without considering the consequences for independence in later life.”

This follows a series of warnings around the heightened threat of Covid-19 related pension scams as savers consider looking to their pension to supplement income, with Canada Life recently revealing pensions scams to be the third most common financial scam in the current crisis.

However, research by PensionBee showed that whilst the lockdown has had a "significant impact" on savers financial habits, it has actually seen consumers save more and withdraw less.

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