Using your Pension Fund to buy Property
How can I use my Pension to buy Property?
Using your pension fund to buy property is a unique investment opportunity that allows all rental income generated from your chosen property to grow your pension fund while benefiting from generous tax reliefs.
Pension rules allow the use of retirement funds for property purchases in Ireland through the use of:
- Personal Pension (PPP)
- Personal Retirement Bond (PRB)
- Approved Retirement Fund (ARF)
- Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS)
- Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA)
All rental income received from your chosen property is free of income tax and is channeled back into your pension fund. This can then be used for further investment if or when you choose to sell the property. No Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is payable on the proceeds of the sale, however, it is not compulsory to sell the property on retirement.
Properties held under the categories of residential, and commercial properties (or a combination of each) can be purchased on a standalone basis, co-ownership or held within syndicated funds.
Who is Eligible for a Property Pension plan?
How can you fund it?
- Transfer previous occupational pensions and existing private pensions into a self administered pension.
- Personal Contributions are restricted to a percentage of Net Relevant Earnings cap at €115,000.
- Borrowing (Gearing) Funds – Property can be financed with specialized mortgages capped at 50% Loan to Value.
Are there restrictions?
- Your property is for investment only – you wont be able to use it personally.
- You cannot purchase property through your pension if it is part of your CURRENT Occupational Pension Scheme.
- The property cannot be sold or let to relatives, your employer or directors of associated companies.
- The vendor must not be a relative, your employer or directors of associated companies.
- Gearing would significantly increase the risk profile of the investment.
- It is an illiquid asset.
When you retire
Rental income can be a good source of income well into retirement.
At retirement, you can take 25% of the value of the pension fund as a lump sum, of which up to €200,000 is tax free. You can then transfer the property in specie to an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) and held as a pension asset in retirement.
Here, you can continue to receive rent tax free into your pension while drawing your own income from the pension fund. While drawdowns from your pension are subject to income tax, it may be that in retirement the income tax will be at a lower rate than the rate you paid while working.
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