Disposal of retirement investment property?

In light of the new regulations covering rental property, should I begin the process now?
I am 61. An accidental landlord who held onto the property for a pension. I was going to sell up in around three years time, giving tenants plenty of time to find somewhere else and even early retirement. They are single and have been really excellent. We haven't increased the rent in the 12 years they have been there. If I wait for the new regime, I wouldn't be able to sell until I am 67, right? Or have I got this wrong? Any ideas anyone? There must be more than me in this situation.

I'm in a similar situation and I'm selling up.

What is published are proposals and we can't trust anything until the legislation is published.There will be a lot of lobbying both ways.
It may be the case that it will be more difficult to sell a property so if holding on long term is not your wish then the sensible thing to do is at least issue the termination notice to start the clock ticking. You can always revoke it later.

On the basis of what we've seen so far, I don't think this is right. It's new tenancies, created after 1 March 2026, that will be six-year rolling tenancies with more limited grounds on which the landlord can terminate. I don't read the announcement as saying that existing tenancies will automatically be converted on 1 March. That suggests that it's only when an existing tenancy expires that a six-year tenancy of the new type will be created, if the property is re-let.

But, having said that. all we have at the moment is a media announcement set out in bullet points. JoeRoberts is right to say that we need to see the draft legislation. It's very common that, when new policy is announced, not a lot of thought has been given to the details of how the transition from the old policy to the new will work. (Or, if they have thought about that, they don't bother to explain their thinking in the press release.) So this is something to keep a close eye on.

JoeRoberts said:

What is published are proposals and we can't trust anything until the legislation is published.

Click to expand...

There will be further tinkering around the edges,further eroding property rights.

The next Govt will be a left leaning coalition.

Not far away from nationalisation of rental property. No idea whst that could look like but feels like its the direction we are headed.

If you don't sell, the tenant will have more rights to the property than you. They could retain possession indefinately and make a profit subletting a room.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious that this is currently in draft form. TBH I have never been comfortable being a landlord but had been hoping my tenants would have moved of their own accord. I will be selling when they do. As is, minus clarity, it looks like this might be sooner than planned. Hopefully not... Slim pickings for them and they'll never get a place as reasonable again.

It's a pity you weren't able to sell earlier and use the proceeds to fund a pension with tax relief.

Indeed so! I was self employed though and my maximum contributions were tied to my earnings if I understood this correctly? I wouldn't have been able to use proceeds from the sale towards the pension, if I understood the situation correctly? Also, I only managed to pay off the mortgage last year, so between paying this and CGT there wouldn't have been much left over. I should have come to this forum earlier! Thank you everyone for the sage advice.