Am I legally not allowed to work abroad because of my mortgage rules?!

costelloe16

Hello,

I'm completely confused that I seem to be in a situation where I'm legally not allowed a work abroad.. because of my Mortgage. And basically I just want to check if I'm going insane!

I want to go work abroad with my partner, we own a house, and have done for almost 4 years. As it stands the figures are £18k unsecured, £106 mortgage, and £6k paid off.

We want to work abroad for 12-18 months then return, so we got a rental agency who said they'd be able to get £650 month for rent, which is great as we pay £490 a month Mortgage. We phoned our Mortgage company (Birmingham Midshires) checking if we could get consent to let, and they said no, they apparently do do it anymore.

They said we'd have to change to Buy to Let, have 75% Mortgage which they said they couldn't give me exact figures of how much short we are from that amount, but I'm guessing it's a lot - (I'm not sure if the unsecured bit is counted as a deposit or not?). If anyone knows how to work that out I'd appreciate it. But even if we did manage to get the money together, then the interest rate of the Buy to Let would go up to over 5%, and we'd need have rental income of 125% of our monthly payments, which be around £700/£800, in other words, much higher than the letting agent quoted.

So then we said fine, we'll just go abroad anyway, and then hope we can earn enough to cover our Mortgage here whilst paying rent over in Australia too.. But apparently for our insurance, we can't leave the house that long legally, or our insurance is default?

So am I right in thinking that I can't legally move anyone into my house, I can't legally leave my house, and so therefore legally.. I have to stay in this country?

Am I missing something obvious?

Any help would be brilliant!

scottishblondie

You could change your home insurance policy to one that allows for extended empty periods. Most only allow the house to be empty for a maximum of 30-60 days without breaking the T&Cs, so you would likely be looking for some kind of specialist policy.

G_M

So am I right in thinking that I can't legally move anyone into my house,no, you can switch to a BTL mortgage, or see below I can't legally leave my house,No you can find an appropriate insurance and so therefore legally.. I have to stay in this country?No you can live where you like

You signed up for a loan (mortgage) which was provided on certain terms - critically that this was you home not a business (BTL). You agreed to this.
You also signed up insurance on certain terms ie that the property would not by unoccupied for more than 30 (35, 60, whatever) consecutive days (read your policy.
You can change either of these agreements if your circumstances/preferences change.
Or keep the mortgage and current insurance and let family live there so it is not unoccupied. (but don't take rent which would create a tenancy.)

Jowo_2

House sitter/Property Guardian.

Emmzi

or you can sell the property, or allow someone to live in it rent free, or employ a house sitter.

PasturesNew

Depending where/what it is, I'll house sit for free for you.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

costelloe16 wrote: »

Am I missing something obvious?

Any help would be brilliant!

Another Solution:

Check your mortgage documents to ensure there are no restrictions against having a housemate.

Change insurance policy to one that allows a housemate, and let insurer know you work internationally and travel a lot for extended periods.

Rent a room out to someone you trust, and maintain the other bedroom for your use when you are in the UK. Keep the house as your permanent residency. Ensure you pay your share of the bills, etc, and genuinely have use of the house if you want to pop back for a visit at any time. In otherwords, a genuine housemate situation.

You should be able to minimise the costs of being away with such an arrangement.

A mortgage company absolutely cannot prevent you from travelling overseas for a year or two. If you maintain insurance on the house, and pay the mortgage, they have no right to restrict your activities in any way.

G_M

A possible solution Hamish, but care needed.
1) Tax. OP might be planning on declaring non-resident for tax purposes
2) Tenant. Tenant (lodger!!) might claim OP is never there, giving him tenancy rights

Caz3121

neighbours of my folks live abroad for 6 months of the year and have their daughter spend 1 night a month at their property which fulfills their insurance requirements of property not left unattended for a period of over x days.....like Hamish's idea over though

JQ.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Another Solution:

Check your mortgage documents to ensure there are no restrictions against having a housemate.

Change insurance policy to one that allows a housemate, and let insurer know you work internationally and travel a lot for extended periods.

Rent a room out to someone you trust, and maintain the other bedroom for your use when you are in the UK. Keep the house as your permanent residency. Ensure you pay your share of the bills, etc, and genuinely have use of the house if you want to pop back for a visit at any time. In otherwords, a genuine housemate situation.

You should be able to minimise the costs of being away with such an arrangement.

A mortgage company absolutely cannot prevent you from travelling overseas for a year or two. If you maintain insurance on the house, and pay the mortgage, they have no right to restrict your activities in any way.

Rather dangerous as the "lodger" would not be a lodger and would gain all the rights of a tenant - you don't need a lease to be a tenant. If something goes wrong it could go wrong in a big way. Tenant burns house down and insurance co refuse to pay out - ouch.

I've let properties to friends before and the exchange of money definately changes the dynamics of the relationship.

theartfullodger

G_M wrote: »

A possible solution Hamish, but care needed.
1) Tax. OP might be planning on declaring non-resident for tax purposes
2) Tenant. Tenant (lodger!!) might claim OP is never there, giving him tenancy rights

Indeed:

Lodger would, given LL is away out of country, become tenant on AST terms (you don't need a written agreement..). House owner then has to get Tenant (ex. Lodger) evicted on his return (probably 6months+??) unless tenant agrees to go...

LL would also be responsible for all usual LL things (Gas Safety cert, safe electrics, insurance etc..)

As Landlord would be non-resident tenant would have to withhold 20% (ish..) of rent for tax-man..

If LL didn't give T address in Engerland/Wales for "serving notices" then rent would not be due anyway & T would not need to pay rent (until address is given when all unpaid rent becomes due..).

Tough situation re. understanding implications of contract you signed... painful/expensive lesson ..

Don't think about not telling lender & going anyway. Most subscribe to "mover alert" to tell them someone else moves in.. then they'll really be cross...
http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer-information/mover-alerts-information.html