Only one fifth of Britons, still have faith in the ability of private or company pensions to deliver an adequate income at retirement, according to research published this week.

And two thirds believe that property will outperform any pension in the medium-to-long- term despite the soft landing experienced in the last 18 months

In total, 37% of Britons have totally lost faith in the private pension system and say it would take "an act of God or the government" to make them reconsider investing. Furthermore, 15% of people who had previously made regular contributions are now so disillusioned they would prefer to make alternative plans for their retirement.

47% of Britons have failed to make any provisions for their retirement. 37% have lost faith in company and private pension schemes. 44% expect property to provide the best return for retirement. one in five expect to have to work beyond retirement age.

Almost a quarter of all Britons (22%) said that they never have or never would invest in a pension, said the research from Instant Access Properties.

Of the more than two thousand people polled by YouGov on behalf of IAP, nearly half (44%) said that the UK property market would provide the best return on investment for retirement, with only 22% believing the same of a private pension. 17% opted for stocks and shares and 15% said the safe option of bonds would provide a high return. 15% thought that international property would provide a good return, with overseas markets such as Florida and Spain outperforming UK property in recent times.

COO, Tony McKay said: "It's not surprising that so many people see property as providing the highest return on investment over the medium to long term, given that over the last 30 years UK house prices have risen, on average, by more than 9% year on year. However, as with any medium-to-long-term investment it is important to spread any risk, making the investment more resilient when short-term fluctuations in the market occur."

"For instance, IAP members who in the last four years have invested in properties primarily across three different markets -- UK, Spain and the US -- would have experienced growth in the US alone of 24% in less than two years. So while the UK market is unlikely to see the same rate of growth as it has in recent years, other markets can make up the immediate shortfall."

Little or no pension provision

The research also found that nearly half (47%) of all Britons (40% of men and 53% of women) have failed to make any provisions for their retirement. The majority, 68%, expect to rely heavily on a state pension to see them through retirement and plan to supplement their income with savings (29%), stocks and shares (11%), bonds (4%) or inheritance of a family property (10%).

What's more, one in five (20%) have resigned themselves to working past retirement and a further 20% intend to either sell or downsize their family property home.

Although 30% of Britons currently invest in a pension or retirement fund (37% of the men and 24% of women) investment levels are often woefully low, and insufficient to ensure financial comfort for the future. Over half (57%) contribute less than £100 a month to a pension/retirement fund, 10% invest between £200 to £500 a month, and only 3% make contributions of £500 or more.

As for the controversial SIPP's (Self Invested Personal Pension), which from April 2006 will give investors the chance to shelter residential property in a pension and attract tax advantages for the first time, the majority of Britons are none the wiser. One-third claim never to have heard of a SIPP (29% of men and 35% of women), while a further 32% have little or poor understanding. Only 11% said that they had a good or fairly good understanding of this new pension vehicle.

Tony McKay added: "It is increasingly clear that the A Day changes to SIPPs will only benefit a relatively small number of Britons who have already accumulated sizeable pension funds."

"However, this research does suggest that people will be keen on property investment for retirement planning even if they are unable to do so through a pension wrapper. This, combined with people's continued enthusiasm for property investment despite the currently flat UK market, suggests that next April's SIPP changes won't be the only positive pressure on house prices caused by pensions planning."

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