What's the best way to go about getting consent to let?

Lewis79

I bought my flat back in May last year, just before everything went belly up. I went for a 2 year fixed rate on my mortgage so I'm stuck paying about 6% until next May unless I want to pay a big fat fee.

Before this I'd lived at home and had no idea how expensive it could be, or how 2 or 3 big bills have a habit of landing on you all at once. I wound up getting myself into quite a lot of debt on my credit card, missed a couple of loan repayments, a council tax payment and a few other bills too.

I'm seriously looking at the possibility of moving back in with to my parent's house for 6 months to a year to get myself back on my feet, clear some of my debt and get some savings built up.

My mortgage is £800 a month, and similar properties in my area are letting for around £600, but even if I was only getting £400 it would make a massive difference, and help me immeasurably.

What's the best approach to take when speaking with my mortgage lender to request permission to let?

Should I go for all out honestly and say I bit off a bit more than I could chew when I took the mortgage on, especially with the financial crisis hitting, and I want to rent my flat out to help dig myself out of debt

or

Should I tell a little white lie and say I've been promoted/taken on a new role at work, and need to work in another part of the country for the next 6 months to a year, and want to keep the property inhabited, and offset the cost of renting accomodation

I definitely intend to return to the property once the lease period is over.

What's the best way of persuading them to grant me permission to let rather than making me switch to a buy to let mortgage.

I don't know how much more a buy to let would cost me on a monthly basis, but with the fees involved in switching mortgages it may well remove almost all of the benefit I get from renting out the property in the first place.

silvercar

What's the best way of persuading them to grant me permission to let rather than making me switch to a buy to let mortgage.

Emphasising that it is only temporary.

TBH with a damaged credit record and presumeably a high lona-to-value, you won't get a BTL mortgage. So your only option is to get consent to let on your current mortgage. I would be inclined to ask their view without giving your name intially, just to see how the land lies.

Remember to allow for upfront costs like the gas certificate you will need before the tenant moves in.

penguine

Is it a 1-bed or 2-bed flat? If it's a 2-bed, have you considered getting a lodger?

PasturesNew

In reality it's difficult to even let a flat out for 6 months. It costs a lot for somebody to move into a flat (agency fees, removal costs, overlap with previous place, overlap with next place), so you'd be cutting down on the number of people even interested. Then, it might not have anybody in for 1-2 months anyway, meaning you'd be out of it for 8 months ... and what if they just didn't move out and stopped paying?

While it seems a good idea, don't overlook the risks in a panic to solve the problem.

Lewis79

silvercar wrote: »

Emphasising that it is only temporary.

TBH with a damaged credit record and presumeably a high lona-to-value, you won't get a BTL mortgage. So your only option is to get consent to let on your current mortgage. I would be inclined to ask their view without giving your name intially, just to see how the land lies.

Remember to allow for upfront costs like the gas certificate you will need before the tenant moves in.

Thanks for the advice.

I hadn't gone as far as finding out about the upfront costs yet... I thought I'd start with getting permission to let. If I don't get permission then I don't need to bother investigating any further

Lewis79

penguine wrote: »

Is it a 1-bed or 2-bed flat? If it's a 2-bed, have you considered getting a lodger?

It's just a 1 bed.

Lewis79

PasturesNew wrote: »

In reality it's difficult to even let a flat out for 6 months. It costs a lot for somebody to move into a flat (agency fees, removal costs, overlap with previous place, overlap with next place), so you'd be cutting down on the number of people even interested. Then, it might not have anybody in for 1-2 months anyway, meaning you'd be out of it for 8 months ... and what if they just didn't move out and stopped paying?

While it seems a good idea, don't overlook the risks in a panic to solve the problem.

Looking at my situation realistically, letting for the full year would give me more time to get my affairs in order. The reason I originally said I'd be letting the place for six months to a year is that a colleague of mine who lets a house recommended letting it for 6 months, but with an option to extend it to a year. He'd had bad tenants who'd caused damage and left his property filthy, and the deposit hadn't covered the cleaning and repairs. He said that if I let for six months with an option to extend to a year then I can get the tenant out after 6 months if they're not looking after the place.

With regard to what I'd do if the tenant just stops paying, this is one of the many questions I intend to raise with the letting agent if, and when, I get permission to let from my mortgage lender

franklee

Lewis79 wrote: »

He said that if I let for six months with an option to extend to a year then I can get the tenant out after 6 months if they're not looking after the place.

But that is what everyone does, so a tenant cannot tell which is the truly long term let and which is the accidental landlord looking for a short term cash cow to tide the landlord over while he waits for a market upturn to sell, while he is living away for a bit or saving like you plan to.

As PasturesNew pointed out it costs a lot for somebody to move into a flat! A year is nothing in house moving terms and being asked to move on after such a short time is a right pain. Even on the forum recently we've had tenants promised a long let then being asked to move when their baby is due, or during exams etc when the landlord wants to sell or move back in after just a year.

If you want to do the decent thing you should instruct the agent to let prospective tenants know it's really only up to a year. Otherwise you could well end up with disgruntled tenants. This is a question a tenant should always ask too and avoid a temporary landlord like yourself if they are looking for any stability.