The National Landlords Association (NLA) has found that the majority of landlords don’t plan to take advantage of pension freedoms to invest in property. The latest research by the UK’s largest landlord association revealed that, of those with a pension in place, just 5% are planning on withdrawing a lump sum to invest or expand their portfolio.

Only 14% of landlords said they would consider using a lump sum to invest in further properties, while 11% said they didn’t have enough of a pension to withdraw a lump sum at all. Some landlords (7%) said they already had other plans for withdrawing a lump sum and 19% were undecided.

The research from the NLA, which asked landlords about their plans at retirement, also found that:

• 3% plan to sell up completely
• One in five (19%) have no retirement provisions in place
• A quarter (25%) plan to sell at least some properties
• Six in ten (61%) plan to live off portfolio income at retirement
• A third (34%) are still undecided and will assess the market when they reach retirement age.

Carolyn Uphill, chairman at the NLA, said: “There has been a lot of talk around pensions being used to invest in buy-to-let (BTL) 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.”