Mortgages for those serving in the forces

scouse05

I'm serving and just working on re-mortgaging my house. Since I bought the place I have been posted and as such have let my house. It is on a residential mortgage but it is subject to higher fees than if I was living there :mad: (like I have a choice...lol) and I didn't think anyone would re-mortgage me again on a residential whilst it still had tenants so started looking at buy to lets (which would result in being left with a higher interest rate than if it was a residential mortgage..grrrr).

Soooooo...the good news....my broker has managed to find some banks that will give servicemen/women a residential mortgage rate, knowing that they are going to rent it out, without any penalties. :T

Not all lenders do this so it's well worth checking around. The ones I know of currently is Royal Bank of Scotland and Alliance & Leicester.

Hope this helps others in a similar situation.

genieuk

Barclays do something similar as well. Can't remember the name of hand, but that is what the mortgage advisor explained to us, we didn't need a BTL mortgage

mcwarre

scouse05 wrote: »

Soooooo...the good news....my broker has managed to find some banks that will give servicemen/women a residential mortgage rate, knowing that they are going to rent it out, without any penalties. :T

That's good news.

BTW. By law Banks / building societies cannot penalise you for being in the Forces by charging you a buy-to-let rate. This is little known and something that they will probably deny but when pushed they cannot penalise you. So stick up for your rights and get a residential mortgage

Andy_L

mcwarre wrote: »

That's good news.

BTW. By law Banks / building societies cannot penalise you for being in the Forces by charging you a buy-to-let rate.

Surly they can if, like the OP, you're actually letting it out?

helliecopter_2

Our mortgage is with the Halifax and they're quite happy for forces to let the property on a residental mortgage. Some smaller branches aren't always aware of this, so get them to check with the Head Office. We simply completed our mortgage as normal and then filled in an A4 application form for 'consent to lease' This consent is normally granted for 3years and can be extended. They may try to charge you an admin fee, but they will do it without if you persist.

mcwarre

Andy_L wrote: »

Surly they can if, like the OP, you're actually letting it out?

Reread what I have said..............................

rebl43

I think most places can do this. It is a little known loophole, the idea being that if you intend to live in the house eventually, you can get a regular residential mortgage. I know that the Abbey do this, Cheltenham & Gloucester, and Virgin. However, I was told very forcefully(!) by the Halifax that they definately do not do this!! I suspect that the (jobsworth) mortgage advisor didn't really know what she was talking about!!

chiefmissile

Have rented my house out for the last 4 years on a residential mortgage without any concerns from the Woolwhich, just called them and stated that i was being posted away from my home port and could i have my mortgage statement sent to another address. Further more have moved back to my base port and moved into FSA and continued to rent my property. Changed my mortgage product to a liftime variable rate residential mortgage in November, again no questions asked from the Woolwhich

scouse05

Very interesting replies...makes things seem a lot easier than they are in reality...one of the lenders I originally mentioned withdrew their offer once they received the paperwork from the broker...even though she'd called ahead and checked with 2 underwriters that they would do a residential mortgage for a property already let out. The lender even stated they would do it, if the broker told me to bend the truth a little...then after the mortgage had gone through tell them I'd been posted...NOT ON AT ALL :mad: especially as they were going to charge me a fee to get permission to let the property - after they'd charged me the arrangement fees for the re-mortgage!!!:eek:

In my experience, Abbey won't do it if it's let before they give you the mortgage - I'm with them at the moment. The Halifax did do it once for me but that was because I was initially living there and then got posted. Did charge a fee though....really gets on my nerves that I have to pay extra for the privilage of having my own home...I know I choose to live out of it as I've chosen my career path in life but what does it matter as long as the mortgage is paid at the end of the day

Still chugging away and must give all credit to my broker...she's going above and beyond to ensure that I get the right deal whilst being able to tell the truth about my property and it's tenant. :T

rebl43

scouse05 wrote: »

In my experience, Abbey won't do it if it's let before they give you the mortgage - I'm with them at the moment.

Hi, just to add that Abbey gave us a residential mortgage while we were already letting it- I think it must vary depending on which mortgage advisor you speak to.

icecurtain

Have rented my house out for the last 2 years on a residential mortgage without any concerns from Northern Crock , just called them and stated that i was being posted away from my home and could I have my mortgage statement sent to another address. The also said yes, a one of admin payment of £100 would keep it at the residential mortgage rate. Which is a 15 year fixed product @ 5.0%