Past events
Housing and Pensions: Should people be able to use their pension savings to buy a home?
Date: Wednesday 21 January
Location: Broadway House
Registration now closed.
In January 2026, we launched our latest report exploring the intersection of housing and pensions – two of the biggest financial challenges people face today – as part of Nest Insight’s Housing and Pensions research project, which aims to understand whether pension assets could play a role in improving housing security and what people think about this idea.
Housing and pensions are deeply interconnected. For many, home ownership is a cornerstone of financial security in later life, yet rising costs and stagnant wages make it harder to achieve. At the same time, pension savings are often locked away until retirement. Could bridging these systems help people build a more secure future?
In this session, Anna Brain, Research Lead of Nest Insight’s Housing and Pensions programme presents a deep dive into the insights from the report, sharing what we’ve learned so far and the questions that remain.
In this session our panel of experts discuss the possible impact of our research and what our findings could mean for low to moderate income households.
Speakers
- Dr Daniella Jenkins, University of Bristol
- Angela Sharma, Taylor Wessing
- Nathan Mallows, Coastline Housing
- Zoe Alexander, Pensions UK
- Anna Brain, Nest Insight
- Moderator:Will Sandbrook, Nest Insight
Read the report in full: Using pension savings to support home ownership
Nest Insight 2025: What will it take to build financial resilience for everyone?
Date: Tuesday 1 July
Location: Asia House
Registration now closed.
Our annual conferences bring together academics, industry, policymakers and other experts working towards improving people’s long-term financial security. These interactive convenings aim to promote a better understanding of the needs of low-moderate-income households; while also sparking debate and fresh conversations to encourage join up across the system so that it better supports people throughout their lives.
In this, our ninth annual conference, we heard all about the latest findings from our research programmes, including a blueprint to real world solutions we’ve been testing. And made the case for action that demonstrates the multitude benefits across various policy interests.
The morning panel explored the business and economic case for supporting worker financial wellbeing. Joanna Legg from the Financial Conduct Authority set out the scale of the challenge, sharing data on the millions of UK adults facing serious financial difficulty. Nida Broughton from the Behavioural Insights Team reflected on how financial strain affects staff performance and inclusion. Rob Lovesey, I-CUDE from Serve and Protect Credit Union shared how frontline workers felt a stronger sense of belonging when saving regularly. And Vivien Burrows of Nest Insight spoke about the link between financial resilience and better relationships, improved wellbeing, and increased participation in financial systems.
Our keynote speaker, Helen Undy from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, highlighted the two-way link between poor mental health and low financial resilience. She shared research showing that people with mental health problems who take extended sick leave see household income fall by 50 percent, with more than half falling behind on essentials like rent, bills, food and fuel. She asked what it would mean for people and for the economy if we could break that link.
Watch the sessions from the day:
In the afternoon, we turned to bold, practical approaches to building resilience. Kate Pender from Fair4All Finance argued that current efforts only address half the problem, and that we also need to tackle spending behaviours. Alex Christopoulos from the Aviva Foundation introduced Variable Recurring Payments as a way to help people repay what they can, when they can, giving borrowers greater control while reducing arrears. Simon Bocca from PayCaptain made the case for rethinking payroll systems built on outdated assumptions. Nest Insight’s Sope Otulana and Jo Phillips shared insights on hybrid solutions that combine long-term and short-term needs, such as pension saving linked with emergency funds.
We’ll be sharing highlights and learnings from the day over the coming weeks. If you’d like to register your interest in attending our next annual conference, sign up here.
Simplifying retirement savings for self-employed people
At the launch of new research from Nest Insight’s self-employed savings programme, we heard from supportive voices including the Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, shared our latest findings and explored next steps and policy considerations.
Date and time: Monday 16 June | 10-11.30am (BST)
Location: Online – Microsoft Teams
Registration now closed.
Watch the sessions from the day.
With funding from DWP, Nest Insight has been developing evidence about the potential effectiveness of ‘autosave’ solutions that can help self-employed people build up both short-and long-term savings without needing to actively sign up to a savings product.
Building on the work from previous phases of the research, we know that self-employed people would value support in saving for retirement but that they are also unlikely to participate in these solutions unless the sign-up process is automated.
The latest phase of the research suggests that, if designed well, automated retirement saving mechanisms could have potential to support self-employed people to save for retirement without reducing their autonomy to choose how they use their money. As part of this phase of research we have:
- consulted with industry and policy stakeholders about how autosave solutions could work in practice
- conducted in-depth interviews with self-employed people about the autosave approach
- run randomised online research with ~1,500 self-employed people to explore whether an opt-out mechanism (both with and without additional liquidity) could boost retirement saving participation among the self-employed; and,
- collaborated with Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) to design and explore the reception of self-employed people to simulated autosave solutions in the context of LBG’s apps, products and services. Also, to explore the thoughts and response of the banking provider of doing so.
Visit our YouTube Channel to watch all of our event recordings.
Retirement-linked Emergency Savings: Lessons from the US
Boosting UK savings inclusion
In March 2025, we brought together policymakers, employers and industry partners to learn, share and discuss the next steps in implementing opt‑out workplace savings. Together we examined the implications for regulatory and policy change, and considered the practical steps needed to ensure more people can build financial security through simple, automatic saving.
Lifting the lid on the millions of people managing a volatile income
Nest Insight conference 2024
Our eighth annual conference, we brought together thinktanks, academics, policy makers, employers, and others, to hear about all the latest findings from our research programmes, practical trials and beyond, and got a full picture of everything we’re hearing from the people and households seeking stability within a system that doesn’t always fit them. Together, we explored future directions.