Recent statistics published by the Office of
National Statistics show that there are 267,704 private rented households in
the Country that are occupied by people aged 65 and older, meaning 4.39% of
OAP’s are living in private rented property.
It got me thinking two things. How many of
these OAP’s have always rented and how many have sold up and become a
tenant? In retirement, selling up could
make financial sense to the mature generation in Royal Tunbridge Wells,
potentially allowing them to liquidate the equity of their main home to enhance
their retirement income. I wanted to
know why these older people rent and whether there was opportunity for the buy
to let landlords of Royal Tunbridge Wells?
The Prudential published a survey recently
that said nearly six out of ten OAP renters had never owned a home. Two out of ten OAP renters were required to
sell up because of debt, just about one in ten OAP renters sold their property
to use the money to fund their retirement and the remaining one out ten OAP
renters, rented for other reasons.
Funding retirement is important as the life
expectancy of someone from Royal Tunbridge Wells at age 65 (years) is 20.0
years for males and 22.5 years for females (interesting
when compared to the National Average of 18.7 years for males and 21.1 years
for females). The burdens of
financing a long retirement are being felt by many mature people of Royal
Tunbridge Wells. The state of play is
not helped by rising living costs and ultra-low interest rates reducing returns
for savers.
So, what of Royal Tunbridge Wells? Of the 5,912 households in Royal Tunbridge
Wells, whose head of the household is 65 or over, not surprisingly 4,521 of
households were owned (76.47%) and 942 (15.93%) were in social housing. However, the figure that fascinated me was
the 321 (5.43%) households that were in privately rented properties.
Anecdotal evidence, by talking to both my team
and other Royal Tunbridge Wells property professionals is that this figure is
rising. More and more Royal Tunbridge
Wells OAP’s are selling their large Royal Tunbridge Wells homes and renting
something more manageable, allowing them to release all of their equity from
their old home. This equity can be gifted
to grandchildren (allowing them to get on the property ladder), invested in
plans that produce a decent income and while living the life they want to live.
These Royal Tunbridge Wells OAP renters know
they have a fixed monthly expenditure and can budget accordingly with the peace
of mind that their property maintenance and the upkeep of the buildings are
included in the rent. Many landlords
will also include gardening in the rent! Renting is also more adaptable to the
trials of being an OAP - the capability to move at short notice can be convenient
for those moving into nursing homes, and it doesn't leave family members panicking
to sell the property to fund care-home fees.
Royal Tunbridge Wells landlords should
seriously consider low maintenance semi-detached bungalows on decent bus routes
and close to doctor’s surgeries as a potential investment strategy to broaden
their portfolio. Get it right and you
will have a wonderful tenant, who if the property offers everything a mature
tenant wants and needs, will pay top dollar in rent!
|
Tenure:
Owned;
|
Tenure:
Shared ownership (part owned and part rented);
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Tenure:
Rented from council (Local Authority
|
Tenure:
Private rented;
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Tenure:
Living rent free;
|
|
76.47%
|
0.47%
|
15.93%
|
5.43%
|
1.69%
|
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