Around 40,000 interest-only mortgages are set to mature each year between 2017 and 2032 after the householder has already retired, new research shows.
Many of these will face a major shortfall running into tens of thousands of pounds.
Between now and 2020, one-third of the shortfalls on endowment mortgages will be more than £50,000, which will be unaffordable for many.
And many homeowners with repayment mortgages could also run into trouble if interest rates rise, according to a major new study from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
The think tank warned that debt is Britain's "ticking timebomb", with the average household owing £54,000, double the level a decade ago, despite record low interest rates.
The growing cost of living is likely to force more people into crippling debt that they won't be able to repay, leaving thousands at risk of losing their home, it said.
The CSJ, formed in 2004 by Iain Duncan-Smith, revealed that more than 5,000 people are already being made homeless each year because they cannot pay their mortgage or rent.
Personal debt in the UK now totals £1.43 trillion, close to its all-time high.
Although much of this is mortgage debt, the report warned that unsecured consumer debt has almost tripled in the last 20 years to nearly £160 billion.
According to the CSJ, households owe the equivalent of 94% of the UK's economic output last year.
Only Ireland has a higher ratio of personal debt to GDP amongst European countries.
The CSJ said more than 26,000 UK households have been classed as 'homeless' by local authorities in the past five years, and warned the number could increase if interest rates rises. Almost four million families do not have enough savings to cover their rent or mortgage for more than a month.
CSJ director Christian Guy said problem debt has taken root in the mainstream of British society. “Years of increased borrowing, rising living costs and struggling to save has forced many families into a debt trap that is proving very difficult to escape."
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