Property news: A new generation of landlords
A new generation of older landlords is “almost stumbling” into private buy-to-let housing – according to a leading UK specialist in residential lettings. And, for advice, the novice investors are turning to Belvoir – which has an office on Church Road in Hove. It’s a trend that’s been growing over the last four years and it is thought that there are about a third more landlords, in their 60s, than there were then.
“I would say that the number has hit its highest level in the last year,” says Dorian Gonsalves, Chief Executive Officer at Belvoir. “At first we were surprised by the rising number of enquiries on behalf of first time buy-to-let investors in their 60s. But the reasons they were giving are now very familiar.”
Some reports refer to them as a generation of ‘silver foxes’ who are turning to the private rented sector for two main reasons. As they make plans for their approaching retirement many have been shocked by their projected pensions – and started to worry whether their funds will be buoyant enough to finance their lifestyle. Others had planned to sell up and retire somewhere else.
But their property wasn’t worth as much as they expected. So, instead, they have decided to rent out their property and use the released equity as a deposit to buy another one. They are not young career landlords. These are people that, late in life, have found themselves in a scenario they never thought they would be in,” says Chris Radford, who owns Belvoir’s Hove office. “And they are finding that investing in property can be a lot more transparent than trying to understand the intricacies of complicated pension funds. But, even so, it’s still an area where they need expert advice before they take a leap outside their comfort zone. The figures need to balance – and that’s where letting agents can be really useful. We don’t charge for our advice and if people want to dip their toe into the private rented sector we can handle all that for them because it’s what we do.”
www.belviorlettings.com
