Many buy to let mortgage firms are already seeing a big increase in the number of enquiries for buy to let mortgages from people aged over 70.
One of them is Aldermore who say that its maximum BTL mortgage application age of 75 makes it one of the few lenders willing to accept older investors.
Ed Brown, an account manager with the firm, told delegates at a buy to let conference that his firm was inundated with enquiries from pensioners looking to invest with money drawn down from their pension pot next April.
Pensioners to invest in buy to let property
He said: “We are finding there are a lots of people thinking of taking out a buy to let product for the first time at the age of 70 plus. This has opened a niche area for us without intending to go there.”
A lot of interest has been generated in the potential profits for a buy to let property investment which should deliver better returns than all other asset classes, including pensions.
Recently the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, surprised the financial services sector with an announcement that would enable anyone aged over 55 next April to take out a large part of their pension without having to pay a fine.
With annuities, the amount that a pension will pay for the life of a pensioner, at a record low and many other investments paying very low returns, the attraction of buy to let property is increasingly attractive to a range of new investors.
Buy to let mortgage firms bring out new products
Other firms are also looking to cash in on the boom for buy to let financial products and the Skipton Building Society has announced that it will have more than 50 products in its portfolio of buy to let mortgages.
Their best offer is a two-year fixed deal with no fee and a 60% LTV at 3.09%.
The Mortgage Works has also announced that it will increase the LTV value to 80% for first-time landlords while Barclays is offering a 'Great Escape' mortgage deal for buy to let landlords that will help them switch to a better deal.
Property prices boom by 12%
Meanwhile, the attraction of investing in property has been underlined by news that house prices in the UK increased by 12.1% in the 12 months to September.
However, there are some striking regional variations within the figures and London has been the main force for driving up prices.
The data comes from the Office of National Statistics which states that prices rose by 12.5% in England, in Wales it was 5.8% while in Scotland it was 7.6%. House prices in Northern Ireland increased by 8%.
