Consent to let charge increase - any advice please

si808

I own a small terraced property which I have been renting out for the past 6 years. My mortgage is with the Alliance & Leicester and until now they have granted consent to let on a 3-yearly basis, the last fee being £125.00 3 years ago. I have just received a letter from them informing me that a maximum of 1 year consent can now be given and are asking for a fee of £95.00. I don't know if this is a normal amount, but it seems an unreasonable increase compared with what I have paid previously.

My initial thoughts were to start thinking about changing my mortgage lender but I'm not sure how straight forward this would be, or how to decide who to go with. Any advice would be welcome.

absolutebounder

well if you changed it to a buy to let mortgage you wouldnt have the problem. Dont tell us you havent got landlords insurance either

LisaT186

Alliance and Leicester always used to review the consent to let after the initial 3 years. They are primarily a residential lender and don't like properties that are let long term. They do a range now of Buy to Let mortgages, I'm not sure how easy it would be to swap onto one of these?

Alternatively if you are on their standard variable rate you may get a better deal remortgaging, saving you on your monthly payment as well as the annual letting charge. Have a word with a local broker and see what they can do.

si808

Thanks for your advise Lisa, I will look into the Buy to Let mortgage and see if it would be worth changing.

MarkyMarkD

If you are on a normal A&L mortgage product, it will be quite a bit cheaper than an A&L buy to let mortgage (or, indeed, most other BTL mortgages). Paying £95 a year on top will not affect that relative pricing, IMHO.

The issue isn't that the £95 a year is excessive, but that A&L's original £125 for 3 years' consent was way lower than other lenders (and way longer). Some lenders won't even give consent at all, or for more than one year, instead requiring you to switch onto a BTL product at a higher rate (and, normally, with higher fees).

si808

Thanks Marky, I'll be happy to pay the £95 if that's the case.

Mr_helpful

it will even be tax deductable. If you declare the rental income that is.

[Deleted User]

This fee is still a load cheaper then a buy to let interest rate hike so its still a good deal although i agree with you in that it is the bank simply profiteering and nothing you can do about that.

They do now offer buy to let mortgages but youll pay shed loads in extra interest for no reason other then the fact that your borrowing more then you can afford to pay back without a decent occupancy percentage of lodgers.