Consent to Let - Santander trying to discourage?

gld73

I'm going to be moving with work - I like my current house, so am going to rent it out in case my job moves me back to the office here in the next couple of years.

I have a Santander residential mortgage of around £115k on the house worth around £180k. I've spoken to a couple of letting agents and they say the house will be no problem to let; the rent will more than cover the mortgage repayments, but even if it didn't, my salary could still cover them - i.e. there's no real risk to Santander's investment. I've had that mortgage since I bought the house about 4 years ago, and also had an Abbey/Santander mortgage on my previous house, all paid with no problems, so I'm a fairly long-standing customer and can't imagine I'm viewed as an unknown or high risk.

I searched this forum a few weeks ago and saw a few other people had got Consent to Let from Santander - to get this, they'd had to pay £295 usually, with other people mentioning £250, or an annual fee of £95. That sounded fine, so I phoned up and got told to put my request in writing.

I've just received Santander's reply to my letter requesting Consent, and they agree to it ... subject to me paying £1200!!! :eek:

Has there been a recent change in Santander's policy on consent to let? I know they can charge what they want, but I don't know why I'm being made to pay 4 times as much as other people???

Does anyone know how they determine what they charge different customers so I can see if I can get it reduced? Or are they just bitter that I'm on a good interest rate (though it's the same one as 1 of the people on these boards who only had to pay £295 I think!), this is their revenge, and there's nothing i can do about it other than withdraw all my savings from Santander accounts in disgust????!!

BitterAndTwisted

Santander are not in the business of providing Buy-To-Let mortgages so they think they have you over a barrel. Which they probably do

tbs624

The bottom line is that there is a greater risk to the Lender when a property is rented out and the Lender is entitled to either refuse CTL or charge a fee/insist on a change of mortgage product as they think fit. You bought on a residential mortgage, with a lower risk.

If you think that Santander's fee is too steep, try obtaining quotes for a replacement BTL product. You may well feel then that you have a good deal.

Have you asked Santander why they are charging you so much more than you think other people have been charged? Remember that other forum posts don't generally contain the full financial information

junglejim2

Or you could just let without their consent. It sounds like you can cover any voids.

Voyager2002

junglejim2 wrote: »

Or you could just let without their consent. It sounds like you can cover any voids.

Bad idea: if they find out, they can help themselves to as much of your money as they feel like since they really have you over a barrel.

A possible solution to this dilemma: rather than moving completely to your new location, you rent somewhere to live in and commute back to your old home. Of course, since your old home is not being used by you most of the time, you take in lodgers, but they know that you will pop back from time to time and you retain a room for your use on these visits.

Now, you do not need consent to let if you are simply using your spare room(s) for lodgers. Such people do not have any security of tenure, and no contracts are involved. While the rent you could charge would be reduced by such an arrangement, the saving in terms of bank hassle would more than compensate.

Turnbull2000

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Bad idea: if they find out, they can help themselves to as much of your money as they feel like since they really have you over a barrel.

A possible solution to this dilemma: rather than moving completely to your new location, you rent somewhere to live in and commute back to your old home. Of course, since your old home is not being used by you most of the time, you take in lodgers, but they know that you will pop back from time to time and you retain a room for your use on these visits.

Now, you do not need consent to let if you are simply using your spare room(s) for lodgers. Such people do not have any security of tenure, and no contracts are involved. While the rent you could charge would be reduced by such an arrangement, the saving in terms of bank hassle would more than compensate.

The odds of the lender finding out are slim at best. So long as the OP can cover any voids, retaining and letting out your first or second property is the way to go these days.

The only real issue is insurance. If the property sustains damage, the insurer may not pay out unless you have landlord cover - who may in turn demand proof of permission to let.

bee78

Hello, I have just called santander a&L.... i have to stress this a&l are my lenders but they are part of santander. the call was regarding consent to let. It was fairly simple, they just said they only need a Phone call from me when i know some one is going to move in, and my forwarding address..as well the deatils of people who are moving in. the annual fee is £95 subject to change anytime.

I think my lenders are being fairly reasonable here.

real1314

It may well depend upon which mortgage product you have. Some may have little financial difference from a BTL, others may be more heavily discounted.

Sanatander may also be considering the level of the mortgage, the property type and other factors.

Let's be fair here, you take a residential mortgage, you use it for your own residence = no problem.

You use it for other things = mortgage company has the right to withdraw the mortgage (within reason). :cool:

MissMoneypenny

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

The odds of the lender finding out are slim at best. So long as the OP can cover any voids, retaining and letting out your first or second property is the way to go these days.

Unless they are caught by National Hunter or streetwise tenants' who have learned to check the landlord has up to date Consent To Let.

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

The only real issue is insurance. If the property sustains damage, the insurer may not pay out unless you have landlord cover - who may in turn demand proof of permission to let.

From ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents)

http://www.arla.co.uk/information/in...ngs-insurance/

"Consent. It is essential that you advise and obtain consent to let your property from your mortgage lender, existing insurer and head lessee (for leasehold properties). Failure to obtain written consent from these parties may render your insurance void in the event of a claim. Sadly there have been many instances where buildings claims have been totally rejected because the insurer and or mortgage lender was not advised the property was let."

Trollfever

And stay under the radar of Experian Mover Alerts:

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer-information/mover-alerts-information.html

Degenerate

real1314 wrote: »

It may well depend upon which mortgage product you have. Some may have little financial difference from a BTL, others may be more heavily discounted.

Indeed. I just spoke to Santander about changing my product and letting my place and their consent fees are as follows:

Old Alliance & Leicester mortgages: £95 renewed annually regardless of product or term.

All Santander products except Flexible Offset Mortgage: £295 for permission that lasts the term of your current product (not mortgage). At the end of you current product, when you revert to SVR, they would insist on changing you to buy-to-let terms or deny further permission to let. (Be aware that the first advisor I spoke to wasn't aware of this caveat and suggested the permission could run for the full morgage term.)

Santander Flexible Offset Mortgage: Because this is a lifetime tracker product with potentially long exposure for them, the one-off fee is assessed individually based on your circumstances eg, your outstanding credit limit and term. At least that's what the seemingly more clued-up advisor told me, after specificly consulting the letting department to ensure she gave me correct advice. The previous one said it would be 1% of outstanding balance, which is apparently not correct, although it does seem to be around what the OP has been quoted.

gld73, do you have a flexible offset mortgage?