New industry research shows that of those existing buy to let investors with a pension in place, just five per cent are planning on withdrawing a lump sum to expand their portfolio.

Despite all the hype, so-called ‘Pension Freedom’ appears to be having next to no impact on the private rental sector.

Fourteen per cent of landlords said they would at least consider using a lump sum to invest in further properties – almost three times the proportion that definitely would do so – while 11 per cent said they didn’t have enough of a pension to withdraw a lump sum at all. 

Seven per cent of landlords said they already had other plans for withdrawing a lump sum and 19 per cent were undecided.

The research, from the National Landlords’ Association, also discovered that three per cent of landlords intended to sell up their property investments completely upon retirement, while some 19 per cent had no formal retirement provisions in place – so presumably may end up relying substantially on their property-related income.

A quarter plan to sell at least some properties. 

“There has been a lot of talk around pensions being used to invest in buy to let since the announcement on pension freedoms was made last year. While the changes may be attractive to those considering a move into BTL, it’s clearly not that popular an option for landlords” says NLA chairman Carolyn Uphill.