Long-term readers of PIN magazine will know that we have been saying for many years that the best pension for many is to have buy-to-let property. A national housing shortage means that someone will always want to live in the property, which means you will always be paid some kind of rental income. Also, assuming that the World keeps turning, employees will always want pay rises and things will eventually cost more thanks to inflation so the value of your property should always go up in the long-term.

But perhaps the most important reason a property is the best form of pension is that ultimately you want to pass down your wealth to your children and while many pensions usually die at the same time as the husband/wife or mother/father that lives the longest, a property remains an asset within the family forever.

Many have known this for some time and according to Paragon, the number of landlords with BTL mortgages has soared from tens of thousands 20 years ago to almost 2m today with private landlords owning 4.9m properties. Also, the number of buy-to-let properties is expected to grow by a further 1m over the next five years. But those estimates could be pessimistic thanks to several changes that are taking place in the UK at the moment.