Prioritising deposit over pension?

[IrateNinja]

I’m currently savings towards a deposit for a house and making reasonable progress, being able to save a not insignificant (for me) chunk each month.

What I’d like some advice on is I’m also currently paying into my employers pension scheme (as I have done since I started my apprenticeship) at a rate of just over £200 per month. What would peoples opinions be on taking a ‘holiday’ from paying into my pension (I’m not sure if this is even possible at the moment!) and instead putting the amount into the House Deposit pot instead?

It would be for a period of hopefully less than 12 months but potentially up to 18 months, and for what it's worth I'm low 20s in age.

[IrateNinja]

Thanks for the responses all, I'm not actually sure what my employers contributions is as I've not considered it since the start of my career at 16!

I'm on the verge of 40% tax so I'm fairly sure it doesn't make sense, but as it takes so long to obtain a deposit I'm making sure I'm not missing any opportunities to minimise the time!!

[IrateNinja]

Simpo Two said:

It will be interesting to see which asset grows faster over the years, the pension fund or the property.

And that's the crux of the matter... On the face of it it would be stupid to turn down the free money of employer contributions, but I can't help but think having my investment in property would be bring more tangible benefits to me. Especially as I'm still relatively early in my career.