Buying a house , But I won’t live in it for now!

jamieg111

Hi All,

I hope you can all help, I currently live with my Nan and plan to stay here as Leaving would leave my Nan alone which I don’t want to do .

However I do want to get myself onto the property ladder , I would be a first time buyer. So that in the future I will have somewhere to live.

if I buy somewhere what bills will I have to pay on a property I don’t live in . 

All help is gratefully appreciated.

Caz3121

who is going to live in the property? are you going to be renting it out or leaving it as an empty property (for how long)?

JGB1955

You will have to pay for Council Tax, gas, electricity, water and specialist house insurance for an unoccupied house.

MovingForwards

Gas
Electric
Water
Council tax, possibly higher than an occupied property, look at your local site
Maintenance / repairs

You will struggle to get insurance on a long term unoccupied property.

I get where you're coming from, but it's not logical to leave a property unoccupied. 

jamieg111

I would plan to leave it empty at least initially. As then it would be easier to move into, However if my Nan doesn’t Require me to do more for her in the future then I would look at renting it. If my Nan has to go into a home or passes away I would like somewhere I can move into , I hope these are in the long term future. But I want that security net .

davidmcn

Apart from anything else, it will be a condition of your mortgage (assuming you need one) that you live in the property as your main home - you can't just buy it and leave it empty while you decide what to do with it.

You also wouldn't qualify for first time buyer relief for stamp duty purposes unless you're planning to use it as your main home.

Generally, it doesn't sound like a great money-saving plan, especially when property prices aren't exactly shooting through the roof.

AdrianC

If it's empty for more than two years, then you will have to pay increased council tax on it - up to 100% more than the normal amount.

Do you actually WANT to run a residential property letting business? Do you have the first idea what that business entails?

Why do you think that paying for a property to sit empty is inherently a better investment than simply saving and investing the same amount of money...?

Davesnave

The government and lenders have set things up to make what you plan very difficult.

Quite right too, given there is a shortage of housing.

foxy-stoat

I would save the money you are planning on spending on buying it, deposit, legal and mortgage fees and mortgage payments, utilities, council tax, insurances so when you do finally decide that you want to buy a property to live in you will have a bigger deposit.

You will probably find that you will have more money to play with as you wont have a large asset to maintain, properties dont like being empty for long periods of time.

luvchocolate

I suggest you wait until you want to move out, I appreciate savings accounts are terrible at the moment but it will be better financially for you in the long run.
As everyone has said ...its not a good idea to buy a house and leave it empty. 

greatcrested

As you are probably beginning to realise, this is not a very good plan.

It's not clear whether you have lots of spare cash (buying the property outright) or would be geting a mortgage (another big ongoing cost for your empty propety, especially as you'd need a specialist mortgage not a standad residential one), but you'd do better to look at how to make your cash grow so that you can buy a property when you actually need it.

It may seem counter-intuitive, given COVID-19 and the stock market at present, but now might be a good time to invest - prices are low as stock markets have fallen, so you'd buy more investments for your dosh, which in the longer term will recover in value.

You might also review your pension posiion - pension contributions are very tax eficient, but if you already contribute this might not be relevant to you.

Go over to the savings/investments board here.