Wanting to let our house out and let another!

vixarooni

Hi,

My partner and I bought a 2 bed house in September up north, unfortunately we don't feel at all settled here and wish to move back down south to be closer to friends/family.

We want to keep this house so that we can build a bigger deposit for buying down south in a few years or so.

We are meeting our lender on thursday to discuss this but wondered what our approach should be? Is it likely they wont be so keen to let it out due to us only owning it for 7 months? Should we be honest about our reasons behind wanting to move on so quickly? I guess i'm asking how likely they may be to allow us to do it!

Any information/advice is greatly received!

buggy_boy

It would depend on your mortgage company but most allow you to either temporarily let out your house (usually max a year) on your current mortgage with an added percentage rate for allowing this after this or alternatively they will say you need a BTL mortgage which means applying again and paying fees (BTL mortgages are higher APR than residential)

I would make sure you really want to do this though, having been a landlord for a few years, having a few properties, I can tell you its not an easy cash cow, having both properties at over 50% equity, I still havent made a penny profit yet although that should change this year. Bad tenants and repairs, letting fees, empty periods etc. You have to think are you going to manage it, if not you pay letting agent, that often means repairs are more expensive, if you do manage it yourself, what are you going to do if tenant phones and says there is water !!!!ing out of a pipe, your going to be miles away.

You also have to look into regulations like gas safety certificates and all other safety aspects, although not needed by law you can be held liable if tenants injure themselves, thats why I took away a green house in one of the houses, I stuck some safety laminate on none safety glass doors, changed two houses from fused electrics to latest spec. Take a look at landlordzone.co.uk for some good info.

phill99

They will allow you or they wont. Your reasons are almost academic.

G_M

See also

[FONT=&quot]New Landlords[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (information for new or prospective landlords)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Letting Agents [/FONT][FONT=&quot](Tips for selecting, and tips for sacking them)[/FONT]

kingstreet

Ask current lender for consent to let.

Some will charge a fee, some will raise the rate, some will do both.

Ensure your insurance is changed from owner-occupier cover and follow G_M's excellent guides.

vixarooni

Thanks for the help!

I shall give those guides a read.

suziemoon

This is exactly what we did except for different reasons - we rented a lot bigger house for £100 a month more money as bigger houses are only slightly more expensive to rent.

We contacted our Mortgage provider and they increased our rate to a BTL rate. It still made financial sense to us to agree to this. Make sure that you get a good Agent to manage the let for you as being a long way from the property will be a massive pain if things need repairing.

Hope this helps.

Good luck