Renting my mortgaged house to family whilst relocating

Fire_Fox

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

I disagree. The OP clearly stated that he/she was considering relocating, and would keep open the option to stay put if the trial move failed to work out.

Lots of people work in a different place from where they live, and, like you say, councils and IRC have guidelines which have to be satisfied. But no two cases will ever be the same, and careful judgment has to be applied in each case.

DC

The way I read it the OP only planned to allow her sister to live there if/ when she relocated. Therefore I do not see where the lodger idea comes into the equation? I think part of this is semantics, I read 'relocating' as a permanent up-sticks-lock-stock job. And the twelve to eighteen month time scale for returning or selling up, plus taking the cats only confirms that.

If you move into, say, Monday to Friday lodgings in the new city and come home at weekends, all your post and most belongings are in the old house then the powers-that-be will probably be fine in leaving your home as your principle primary residence. Equally if the job and new residence are clearly temporary - say a three month contract - then again you should be able to argue the case, just as students are allowed to maintain their home address as their main address.

<sebb>

When I was looking at mortgages, a couple of them actually had Terms and Conditions that stated you had to inform them of ANYONE new taking residence in the property, regardless of whether you remained there. You should really check the details of the terms of your mortgage.

Ditch_Crawler

Fire_Fox wrote: »

The way I read it the OP only planned to allow her sister to live there if/ when she relocated. Therefore I do not see where the lodger idea comes into the equation? I think part of this is semantics, I read 'relocating' as a permanent up-sticks-lock-stock job. And the twelve to eighteen month time scale for returning or selling up, plus taking the cats only confirms that.

If you move into, say, Monday to Friday lodgings in the new city and come home at weekends, all your post and most belongings are in the old house then the powers-that-be will probably be fine in leaving your home as your principle primary residence. Equally if the job and new residence are clearly temporary - say a three month contract - then again you should be able to argue the case, just as students are allowed to maintain their home address as their main address.

I have highlighted the 'grey' areas in red!

None of this is in Black and White...

That's why the OP has to satisfied in his/her own mind that he/she is acting within the permitted parameters. He/she could write letters to all the councils concerned, as well as the IRC, and would probably receive in return vast quantities of paper containing masses of indigestible material, none of which would provide a definitive answer.

If the OP is deliberately 'winging it', then so be it - hopefully this thread might have provided some clues as to how to minimise the chances of getting into trouble.

DC

Owain_Moneysaver

I'd suggest leaving the cat, if the sister will look after it. Cats tend to me more attached to locations than people.