Should I rent out my flat?

wallacewilliams

Hello all,

My partner and I currently live in a 2 bedroom flat (can just about fit a bed, set of drawers and a wardrobe into the 2nd room it's pretty small).

We've both recently started new jobs about an hour's commute away from where we live and are looking to move closer to our work.

The flat is a 50% shared ownership with a housing association. We could not let it out unless we bought the other half [which I would do if I was going to rent it out].

When we bought it we paid nearly £60,000 for our half. Now I think we'd be lucky to get £50,000 despite spending a lot of money fixing it up (double glazing, new carpets, new fireplace etc).

We have saved up £30,000 and have £39,000 left outstanding on the mortgage.

An almost identical flat next door to us is being rented out for £500 per month. It was only up for rent for a couple of weeks and got taken pretty quickly - we're in a good area for renting out - lots of students, near to 2 universities and a bus ride to a city centre.

Our flat has been on the market now for almost a year I think and we've dropped the price significantly but still have very little interest. I'm thinking of letting it out more in terms of logistics - being able to move closer to where we work - rather than as a money making scheme.

I have no idea where to even start though - has anyone else recently started thinking about buy to let?

Thanks in advance!

BitterAndTwisted

Should you? Well, no. Not until you own 100% of it.

You've now discovered why shared ownership for many people is less than ideal and for some a complete albatross

wallacewilliams

thanks I have edited the OP to indicate that I would buy the other half before trying to let!

[Deleted User]

First learn all about being a landlord, being a landlord that lives a significant distance away from the property puts you at a disadvantage and then on top of that landlording is not a simple set and forget affair. There's a good post introducing you to the responsibilities and considerations of a landlord here by G_M: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

A concern would be affordability, if your mortgage is £39,000 remaining and you have £30,000 cash won't you need to remortgage to purchase the other half, if you do that (another £50k onto your mortgage owed) how are you going to afford a new place to live?