Renting a property while traveling

liquidchild101

Hello people of the internet, I hope you can advise me with a future investment id like to undertake.

This is my plan:

Id like to buy a 2 bed flat with my girlfriend, in central bristol (uk), live in it for a year, test the
waters out with renting one of the rooms and then rent out the whole flat while myself and
hopefully my girlfriend go traveling for 6 months to a year.

I’m not looking for the flat to pay for my traveling, just that it stays afloat.

The idea is that while we’re away the mortgage is being paid off so when we come back, we have a home to come back to and some of the mortgage paid off.

Now, ive been looking around different forums and watched some videos on buy to let properties, looked in to what renting entails and the pros and cons of each.

Ill go through some of them below so theres no confusion of what I know.

Renting is a risky business and things can go wrong. Id like to reduce the risk so i would add in expenses for a empty property and any work that mite have to be done.

It seems like unless I’m renting to more than a few properties its not wise to use a agency to take care of the flat while I’m away but have a friend or family member take care of boiler problems etc. this mite not be possible so a agency mite be my only option but id prefer not to if i can.

If i did go with an agency to take care of it, id still put the flat up for rent myself so i can do my own checks. Id basically look for someone earning over 20k, no cci’s, good rent history etc, basically the best tenant i can find. I know this will not guarantee that it will go smoothly but thats life. id also won’t be renting to friends or family because i know how that can turn out.

One of my questions is when I’m looking at a property to buy, would it be best to tell the mortgage lender that this is something id like to do. or would it be best to tell them after that first year. Ive read up and seen that some leaders won’t allow that or will increase the rates etc. would this make it unviable to even start?

I know I’ve left out loads of stuff as we all know buying and renting is a complicated process.

Ill also add that I’m not totally invested in the property market and would look to investing in another projects. but after some thinking, i found property to be my best bet. the way Im thinking about it is if I’m renting a place at the moment at 450 no bills, 450x12= 5400. over two years thats 10,800 that I’ve put away in to a “savings/property”

If i were to invest in something else. would i be able to make the same amount not including the year’s rent id pay for that first year in my mortgaged flat.

I of course know that there could be another market crash but lets say that doesn’t happen and the flat prices go up. isn’t that a win win if all goes well.

As you can see i have quite specific needs so i thought it best to do it on here.

Would this be a viable option with all the extra costs on top? insurance, tax etc

There so much more to say but I’ve already said enough so id like to hear your thoughts on my endeavour.

Thanks in advance

Ben

always_sunny

I don't think I would tell the lender that you might be renting it out in the application, if you will only rent one of the rooms I believe that technically you will get a lodger so the lender won't need to be informed.

If you were to rent the whole flat out, most lenders should give you a consent to let for a year or so before having to convert to a full BTL.

Buy the flat, then when you need to travel think about it

G_M

As explained, letting a room is fine - no consent needed from a mortgage lender. Read:

LODGERS (Licencees/Excluded Occupiers)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with a resident landlord & shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' & 'same property' (S31 & Schedule 1 (10).

See:

LodgerLandlord (21 tips from solicitor Tessa Shepperson + General information site)

Landlordzone (Various articles on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (HMRC guide for tax-free income from lodgers)




As for letting the whole property while travelling, that is different. Read:

* New landlords: advice, information & links

* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

When selecting your mortgage lender, you might research and choose one of those who are more flexible about granting Consent To Let. Some will refuse point blank and insist on switching to a BTL mortgage. Speak to an independant mortgage adviser.

Few lenders will grant CTL in the 1st 6 month/1 year, but that should be fine for you.

liquidchild101

thank you for the quick reply.

its early days yet so i thought it would be a good idea to get the ball rolling before i start putting more money away in what my building society (Skipton) is calling a life time ISA.

4k in for 1k added per year, not too bad. the only catch is that i cant take it out during that time and that i have to use it for a first home or retirement plan

Cakeguts

Something to think about here. You buy a flat, let it, travel and come back to find that the tenants have not left so you have to rent somewhere while you evict them through the courts and then when they leave they wreck the place. Any profit? Or they only pay rent for the first 3 months and so you have to take them to court while you are away traveling and then they leave and wreck the place.

The sensible thing to do would be to rent then do the traveling and then when you are back buy somewhere.