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

knightstyle

But the rent won't cover the mortgage! Do you have anyone nearby you can trust? Is it possible to let for holiday lets? This means regular work for the person you trust and you will get far more income, even after expenses than a straight let. We did this for a few years as we wanted the house for ourselves in the winter but needed income during the holiday season when we were in France. It was a good solution, we never had any problems, even when some Polish guys wanted the house for two weeks, they paid cash in advance on the doorstep! Many lets were to people working temporarily, not holiday makers. Have a look at Hoseasons or other sites to get an idea of how much a house would get in your area.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

G_M wrote: »

Not that simple. A judge could find that the 'right to access' the LL built into the contract, and/or any possessions left there, were not enough disprove exclusivity and were in fact merely token attempts to do so.

Judge would look at the whole picture ie the reality of the situation. (see my post above).

However, if the lodger was only paying half the bills, half the council tax, etc, and the owner retains a bedroom, and leaves most of their possessions in the house, then there is absolutely no way the tenant would be found to have exclusivity.

Set it up as a GENUINE flatshare situation, where you have access when you want to, and it makes no difference how many nights you spend at home.

Otherwise ALL landlords would leave a sleeping bag in the cupboard under the stairs, stick a clause in their contract about the LL retaining right of access, turn up once a year for an overnight, and classify ALL tenants as lodgers, thereby removing their rights.

Judges would make mincemeat of such an arguement.

And NO landlord would pay half the bills, council tax, etc for their tenant. Nor would a sleeping bag in a cupboard qualify.

Don't be daft.

MsHoarder

knightstyle wrote: »

But the rent won't cover the mortgage! Do you have anyone nearby you can trust? Is it possible to let for holiday lets? This means regular work for the person you trust and you will get far more income, even after expenses than a straight let. We did this for a few years as we wanted the house for ourselves in the winter but needed income during the holiday season when we were in France. It was a good solution, we never had any problems, even when some Polish guys wanted the house for two weeks, they paid cash in advance on the doorstep! Many lets were to people working temporarily, not holiday makers. Have a look at Hoseasons or other sites to get an idea of how much a house would get in your area.

Holiday letting comes with the same legal issues from an insurance/mortgage POV as a tenancy. The only issue thats got rid of is the difficulty of getting a tenant out of the house.

OP: You can sell your house, get family to check/stop there regularly whilst you are away, apply for a BTL mortgage and risk not being able to get the tenant out, or keep living where you are. You did choose to tie yourself into a geographically fixed asset with a big loan...

Emmzi

to be clear, when working out %age lent all that mattters is a) how much you owe ON THE MORTGAGE ie secured against the property, so forget any unsecured loans, and b) What the valuer says the house is worth - not you, not an estate agent, not what you paid for it, not a best guess.

JQ.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

However, if the lodger was only paying half the bills, half the council tax, etc, and the owner retains a bedroom, and leaves most of their possessions in the house, then there is absolutely no way the tenant would be found to have exclusivity.

Set it up as a GENUINE flatshare situation, where you have access when you want to, and it makes no difference how many nights you spend at home.

Nope - giving the impression of a genuine houseshare does not make it a houseshare. You can draw up whatever agreement you like it's what happens in reality that matters. If the tenant actually has Exclusive Possession, because the Landlord lives abroad, it does not matter how much stuff they leave in the house, how many rooms they claim to be their's, or a clause in the lodgers agreement giving them permenant access - the tenant will be able to have the security of an AST and as such can create significant problems for the Landlord.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

And NO landlord would pay half the bills, council tax, etc for their tenant. Nor would a sleeping bag in a cupboard qualify.

Don't be daft.

Again the Landlord paying the bills does not stop the tenant having Exclusive Possession and therefore the ability to claim an AST. I've lived in a house where the Landlord paid all the bills, including the phone. It didn't make me a lodger, it just meant I didn't have to pay any bills.