A UK website for people to rent rooms research say that in the last two years more and more over 50's are accepting landlords and in effect becoming live-in landlords has gone up by 41 per cent.

Numbers of people who are enjoying their "golden years" between 55-64 years who are taking in lodgers have almost doubled in those two years by 93 per cent, the highest in any age group. Those who are older than 65 that opened their doors to lodgers  in 2013, have increased by 46 per cent from those in 2011.

The company says that over 65's in their retirement years, could earn up to 128,639 by just renting out a single room and those in London could make a very sizeable income of £176,342. If they are able to let out two rooms then the figures could rise to £257,278 or £352,682 in London during their retirement.

According to the company, the Government's "Rent A Room" scheme allows people to earn up to nearly £100,000 tax free, £97,750 to be exact. There is an annual allowance of £4,250 tax free from letting furnished rooms within peoples' homes.

Matt Hutchinson, director of the website company, said: “Retiring from your career doesn’t mean you have to stop making money. Monetising existing assets – such as renting out an otherwise under-used room – has no long-term liability for the estate, unlike equity release.

"Plus, it brings in more than four times the income of the average paltry UK pension pot. So there’s no reason why retirees shouldn’t find their entrepreneurial streak after bowing out of the workforce.

“There’s far less stigma around taking in lodgers amongst the older generation, many of whom grew up in the post-war years when lodging was widespread. Many retirees find they get as much satisfaction out of the companionship of taking in lodgers as they do from the income.

“But if the government wants to improve the outlook for pensioners, it needs to drive awareness and further incentivise Brits to become live-in landlords by raising the Rent A Room Scheme threshold, which hasn’t changed since 1997.

"This will also free up supply, and ease the now colossal demand on the rental sector as house prices rise to unaffordable levels. Our ‘Raise The Roof’ campaign calls on the government to raise the threshold to £7,500 per year to reflect UK rents.”