> it frees up cash that would otherwise go towards buying an asset into living in the present.

I'm really skeptical of this claim without good market data, because whenever I've looked at this for my own personal reasons the headline monthly cost of renting is 10-20% higher than mortgage payments.

You have to allow for emergency expense, yes, but if you rent you also have to allow for emergency moving at 1 month's notice (assured shorthold tenancy, yay) and you can't modify the house or have pets.

Not to mention the pension aspects. If you don't own a house when you retire you're going to have to pay a big variable expense from a fixed income, so buying housing is a volatility hedge. Also you have to take pension income, pay income tax on it, and then pay rent.