BTL/Lodgers

Herbalus

Lodgers aren't liable for council tax. So good luck paying that £1200+ which suddenly puts a large dent in your income tax saving.

lewishardwick

I wonder if the HMRC ever look into forums like this...

kinger101

DRFC1879 wrote: »

For the record I don't like tax dodgers any more than the next man. Just thought I could've seen a loophole in the regulations.

You didn't even look a the regulations. Or know which regulations to look at for that matter. It was just a mindfart really.

Prothet_of_Doom

I'm in a position where I'm actually thinking about buying a house to live in during the week when I'm working away from home.
I'm a ltd company contractor but over 7 years I have spent 4 years, at various client locations in the same city which is 110 miles from home.
It won't be my main residence, but I calculate I would stay approximately 160 nights per year. I was looking at the basic financials, and came to the conclusion that I'd be better off finding a 3 or 4 bed house and letting the other rooms (and paying the correct tax), than buying a one bed flat, and living alone.
Now there are clear problems. When the current contract comes to an end I will be somewhere else for the next contract with a different client, and that would change the house into a HMO (probably).
Plus I'd need to swap my residential mortgage to one more suitable, along with the insurance.
In my investigation I made a discovery, and that is that an AST isn't an AST if the lodgers/tenants/guests are not using the property as their only residence. So if I ONLY rented to contractors, on monday to friday only contracts that would solve some of the issues.
There is so much small print in mortgages and insurance that I've put the idea on the back burner.