New landlords look to rental sector to safeguard income in retirement

As new findings from the latest BM Solutions/ BDRC Continental survey show that a greater proportion of landlords are turning to the private rental sector to prepare their finances for retirement, Belvoir Sheffield looks at the possible reasons for this.

Rick Flay, whose agency on Campo Lane in Sheffield specialises in houses to let Sheffield, said: "This new report was extremely interesting and here at Belvoir Sheffield we agree with its findings. The report found that 84 per-cent of landlords view their rental property as a supplementary income to their pension with 6 out of 10 of these landlords actively planning to live off the rental income at retirement."

The report also found that of those single property and portfolio landlords surveyed, a further 4 in 10 of those who agree that their property is their pension intend to make a decision dependent on the state of the property market once they reach retirement. Very few landlords plan to sell all properties in their portfolio when they reach retirement.

It was also recorded that rental yields fell by 0.5% to 6.2% in the final quarter of the year. In comparison, the average rental yield was 6.7% in Q3 2012, 6.2% in Q2 2012 and 6.2% in Q4 2011.

Rick the expert in flats to rent Sheffield, added: "If a landlord purchases a house for £120, 000 with a £90, 000 mortgage using £30,000 cash, landlords need to be looking closely at the cash on cash return to make this investment pay. Using these figures as an example, if you get £6,000 a year in rent before any costs are added then it is actually £6,000/£30,000 which equals a gross yield of 20 per-cent cash on cash, which is better than any bank."

Rick added: ""The private rental sector is a fantastic long term investment and it is clear to see why so many new landlords are coming to the market in a bid to create some income in retirement. I would advise any first time landlord to get in touch with us at Belvoir Sheffield to discuss their options."

Belvoir Lettings Sheffield is the One Stop Specialists for Lettings including Property Management, Tenant Find, Investment and Wealth Management Advice, Fit-outs and Renovations, Furniture Packs and Investment Property Insurances and Mortgages.

For more information, visit belvoirlettings.com/sheffield.