Turned down for temp let...

Dave_Lister_2

Hi All, I during the process of buying a house I managed to fall in love with a girl and decided to join her spending 12 months travelling the world. I decided not to move into my new house, only to move out again in 6 months when I go travelling and applied to my mortgage provided (Accord) for permission to temporarily let the property whilst I will be away. Accord wrote back refusing to give permission as I had not told them of my intention to let the property prior to completion of the mortgage. This decision by Accord is probably going to cost me enough in either the associated fees to change to a buy to let product or the mortgage payments on an empty house that I may not now be able to go with my girlfriend on the trip we have planned... I was hoping someone may have a solution to this that doesn't involve huge fees. Also how wrong/risky would it be to let the property without permission, as long as Accord continue to get the repayments how much will they care....?

tl;dr - temp let permission denied, hoping for advice/idea from those more knowledgable than me...

19lottie82

Most mortgage providers won't permission to let for a set period after purchase. If you knew you weren't going to live in the house and planned to rent it out, before you completed, you should have gone for a BTL mortgage.

Can you let without permission? Well loads of people do it. Personally, I'd say the risk is minimal, but it's still there - the choice is yours.

Pixie5740

I'm not surprised you were turned down for consent to let after applying so soon after buying the property.

You would be breaching the terms of your mortgage by letting it out without consent. Your mortgage lender could increase your interest rate or recall the whole mortgage. Letting the property out so soon after buying it could make it look as though this was your intention all along therefore implying that you deliberately committed fraud when applying for a residential mortgage. Who knows if any of these things would happen though.

There are lots of way Accord could find out. Any post from your mortgage lender could be returned to sender by the tenants. The electoral register will have other people's names on it. The council tax will be getting paid by someone else.

I wonder if getting a property guardian would be different to letting the property out to a tenant? Might be worth investigating.

Dave_Lister_2

Thanks guys - I realise that the provider is just covering their back and my decision to let it so soon after buying could look like I was always planning a buy to let and I'm trying to do it with a residential mortgage (not the case, it's a lovely little house that I'm very much looking forward to living in when I get back...).

A few people have said to just let it without permission... I'm worried that after trying to do it the right way and asking permission I'm now on their radar...

Propety guardian is not something I have come across - I shall definately look into this!

theartfullodger

The lender is not "covering their back..." but simply wanting you to stick to the contract you've signed.....

How would you feel if you let the place but the tenant then decided not to stick to the tenancy contract they signed - eg not paying rent, smashing the place up??

G_M

Not much to add to what's been said already, except that letting a property that's "a lovely little house that I'm very much looking forward to living in" is a risk too. Tenants can be great, but they don't always treat your 'home' the same way you would yourself.

When you come back, where will you live? You also can't guarantee tenants will conveniently leave their home when you ask them to.

Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants

Having said that, enjoy your travels and good luck with the new girl.... not called Kochanski is she? Does not bode well for your future together.....

Dave_Lister_2

Thanks for everyone's comments so far. I do appreciate that I signed a contract which is why I approached Accord for their permission in the first place, which not everybody does... Also I understand the associated risks with letting a proprty but, for me, the oportunity to travel outweighs the risk of a bad tennant.

I'm just trying to work out what my options are, and seeking advice from people who may know more about this area than I do...

Dave_Lister_2

"not called Kochanski is she? Does not bode well for your future together....."


I have come to accept that Kristine and I are not going to get together - tbf I went off her when she became a regular charater...

Pixie5740

Yes, she seemed to lose her Gorbals roots when she came back. Shame.

agrinnall

Take Holly with you as a backup in case the real girlfriend doesn't work out...

Pricivius

Just to mention, I owned a property several years ago and enquired with my mortgage lender whether they would give consent to let. They informed me of the application process and the fee, but I did not go down this route at this time. I continued living in the property.

6 months later, I called again to make the application and I was told that there was a fraud alert on all my accounts with the lender. As I had made the enquiry but had not proceeded, apparently, they had put a fraud alert on the account as they suspected as I was letting the property without consent. I was told that their fraud team keeps an eye on such accounts and if they had seen evidence of me letting the property, such as rent going into my current account or the mortgage being paid by someone else, they may well have acted.

This was a major concern as fraud is a career-ender for me and the mere suggestion by a major banking group that they suspected I was committing fraud could have been a problem. I also understand that letting without consent can invalidate your landlord's insurance, so if your tenants burn the place down, you're not covered. It is not worth it, in my opinion.