Because the government has changed retirement savings rules so that pensioners are able to take out their full pension pots in one go, more and more lenders are starting to re-think their age restrictions for mortgages.

Already one major lender has just introduced a 35 year mortgage for people up to the age of seventy. This has sparked dozens of lenders to also reconsider their position about their current age restrictions.

Before introducing their new age restriction policy, the lender would only let the mortgage terms to run until someone was seventy five years old and in a few cases those who were experienced investors, would be looked at individually and granted mortgages to run up until they were ninety.

It now means that mortgages must be applied for before the seventieth birthday that could, in theory, run until after the borrower's 100th birthday.

It is likely that other lenders will follow this lead and this could encourage a wave of "golden years" investors entering into the buy-to-let market because of the new pension rules.

Henry Jordan, managing director of buy-to-let arm of the Nationwide, said: "We are aware that a significant proportion of landlords intend to use their buy-to-let property as a form of retirement provision.

"Our removal of upper age limits at maturity will ensure our customers are offered greater choice and flexibility around the point at which they might sell their property; providing increased peace of mind for their tenants, as well as supporting stability in the wider market."

As more and more pensioners invest into buy-to-let homes, there is a fear that this in turn could drive up house prices out of the reach of first time buyers.

To counter this argument Georg Osborne has said that the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has 'the tools and the responsibility' to keep control of mortgage standards and 'police' levels of debt.