In years gone by, retirement was viewed as a positive life change; something to look forward to. Most people had spent many years as a loyal employee, paying into a healthy retirement pot. But the economic recession has put paid to such an idyllic retirement for many of us and the average pension plan is not performing anywhere near as well as you might once have expected, which is why increasing numbers of pensioners are turning to the buy to let market as a way of boosting their income.
According to recent research, there has been a steep rise in the number of retirees downsizing their living arrangements. Pensioners are typically moving into smaller accommodation to save money on bills and other living costs, whilst holding on the family home and letting it out as a source of regular income.
Clearly this makes good financial sense in today’s stagnant property market. Instead of losing money by selling the family pile at a woeful knockdown price, you can keep it in the family to provide an additional source of regular income. Experts call this type of landlord an “accidental landlord” as it describes someone who did not set out to make money by investing in buy to let; rather they chose to follow that road because it made good sense at the time. But with the buy to let industry going from strength to strength, many pensioners are finding that letting out a property is a great way of supplementing a dismal retirement fund.
