Advice needed re: Santander Mortgage

Gambit

Afternoon all,

Ok, I am/was a first time buyer and last year jumped on the property ladder with my better half :j We are very happy about this fact but our next plans involve going travelling. Now ideally we would like to go next year but are currently stuck in a three year fixed deal with Santander. Now in order for this to happen we would have to rent the flat out and I assume we have to let our lender know. My friends recently emigrated to Australia and they just called their lender up who charged them a £25 admin fee to make the changes and allow them to rent for the next 4 years. Am I right in thinking that this is to the discretion of the mortgage lender and some arent so understanding??? Am in the process of writing them a letter but just unsure how best to word it. :think:

Otherwise worse case scenario would we just have to wait for the 3 year fixed deal to end and then move to another lender that would allow us to rent? Or do you have to change the mortgage to 'Buy to let' even though that isnt what we are doing?

Any advice anyone can give would be appreciated :huh:

Many thanks, Peter

kier333

Gambit wrote: »

Afternoon all,

Ok, I am/was a first time buyer and last year jumped on the property ladder with my better half :j We are very happy about this fact but our next plans involve going travelling. Now ideally we would like to go next year but are currently stuck in a three year fixed deal with Santander. Now in order for this to happen we would have to rent the flat out and I assume we have to let our lender know. My friends recently emigrated to Australia and they just called their lender up who charged them a £25 admin fee to make the changes and allow them to rent for the next 4 years. Am I right in thinking that this is to the discretion of the mortgage lender and some arent so understanding??? Am in the process of writing them a letter but just unsure how best to word it. :think:

Otherwise worse case scenario would we just have to wait for the 3 year fixed deal to end and then move to another lender that would allow us to rent? Or do you have to change the mortgage to 'Buy to let' even though that isnt what we are doing?

Any advice anyone can give would be appreciated :huh:

Many thanks, Peter

Depends on the Lender as you suggest, I know HSBC allow you to rent for 12 months with no charges, i spoke with them today.

Burridge60

NW used to be really good about it but now they will start charging extra to the mortgage rate. Abbey used to be quite good too but now its like the "Spanish Inquisition" when you ring them asking for anything. First Active will allow for 12 months with very strict conditions then seek to charge a higher rate thereafter.

Give them a call it wont hurt to ask just say you are thinking of going travelling and this has come up as an issue and see what they say. You have to legally ask their permission to rent and I suspect this might become a new consumer issue in the future where a tenant will want to know the Landlord has such permission.

Wh05apk

Should have no problem, they will probably charge a fee though.

Lenders are naturallu cautious about borrowers asking for permission to let immediately after purchasing as that implies that was their intention, and so the mortgage should have been buy to let, but 6 months or so later, given that you are travelling is fair enough.

Gambit

Wow, that's all very positive - thanks very much for the responses. I worry that Santander might not be one of these 'fair lenders' but worth a go.

Wh05apk wrote: »

Lenders are naturallu cautious about borrowers asking for permission to let immediately after purchasing as that implies that was their intention, and so the mortgage should have been buy to let, but 6 months or so later, given that you are travelling is fair enough.

Good point - never thought of that! Do you think I should wait a bit longer to ask? I bought in July so it's been 7 months and we are planning to travel in 2012 which will be 2 years after we actually bought. The only reason for asking so far in advance is that you usually need to book tickets and tours well in advance which I have explained in the letter.

If they did say No, would I then have to remortgage (is that the right term?) to another lender? Should this be easier than getting a first time mortgage? Or is this quite a complicated matter?

Thanks again for all the advice :beer:

Burridge60

Gambit wrote: »

Do you think I should wait a bit longer to ask? I bought in July so it's been 7 months and we are planning to travel in 2012 which will be 2 years after we actually bought.

I arranged a mortgage for a buyer about a year ago. The Abbey valuer reported that the property appeared to be tenanted but was actually a single bachelor house.

We had to get letters attested by the buyers solicitors that they knew it was to be a vacant possession purchase and that the buyer had no intention to let the property. Just for good measure the seller wrote a letter too saying he was the sole occupier and did not even have a lodger.

Suspicious HUH ! The Spanish Armada has arrived and we let em in!

DMB1973

They are abysmal and border line criminal, after myself and my wife being assures over a 3 month period by their UK Folkestone Branch mortgage advisor that we could increase the amount on our Mortgage to purchase our dream house and keep the same deal, being a fixed tracker, tracking at 1% above base rate. The Mortgage advisor called us 36 hours before the deposit was due to be paid on the house we were purchasing, all this after being Credit Scored and details sent to their Underwriter and she told us that they had made a MISTAKE, admitting it was THEIR ERROR and informed us that the extra we were borrowing could only now be offered on a new product with a two year tracker rate of 3.09% above the base rate, they admitted upto Regional Manager level it was their error BUT will do nothing to resolve it ! Meaning that it real terms our monthly payments would have to increase by OVER £200 as a starting point, they wouldnt budge despite saying it was their error and will not help us out, only claiming that nothing was signed. Well they assured us it was the terms of our Mortgage several times before then dropping this Bombshell. The result is we have now lost our Dream House and sale on our current property and have left us with nothing more than a shrug of their corporate shoulders and a well S**T happens attitude. They are nothing more than government protected criminals.

Bhindocha

Hi guys,

Appreciate this forum is a little old but I'm in exactly the same position now. I have a mortgage with Santander that I started in November 2011. First payment was in jan 2012. I was wondering if anyone knew what santanders conditions are for allowing you to do this, or alternatively how easy it would be to switch to another lender?

My decision to travel is completely tied to this, as the rent will barely cover mortgage as is, plus service charge plus estate agent fees for the rental.


Thanks


Bhindocha.