Leaving property empty whilst selling

bert4567

HI - i moved into a place 14 months ago - it hasn't worked out here, nothing hugely major - neighbor annoys me a bit but nothing to bad (family bbq's) - but I split from the other half recently, so shes moved and feel like i want a break from the place completely.  Bought it based on big garden which she loved - me im a nerd and happy to sit in front of a pc constantly - so not fussed about a garden.  Im potentially being transferred to Melbourne in 6 months - so with this and the other stuff im looking to put the flat on the market.  Appreciate it might not be the right time with everything - but also i have some friends in shared house who have a room coming up, and im thinking i'd like to take it - be nice to come home to somewhere i want to be rather than this flat.  My question is - i'd id look to switch to a interest only mortgage, and then just pay the interest each month (manageable), whilst waiting for the property to sell, but would i need to pay council tax still / contents insurance ? Just wondering what the situation would be with a place being emtpy if i moved into my friends and just paid the interest until it go's?

youth_leader

I moved into a rental before I sold my house at auction, I had to pay council tax, water rates, and house insurance.  House insurance stated I couldn't leave it empty for more than 60 days without contacting them. 

frogglet

We have had our house empty whilst selling it. The insurance is very, very limited we only got one month free council tax, I think council tax varies in different areas.We  pay a basic water bill. The electric is a small amount with lights on timers.

flashg67

I had one empty for about 9 months before it sold - as above, I was only given limited buildings cover (no contents cover needed being empty). One stipulation was leaving the heating on frost setting, and/ or draining the system, and proving that I'd done this - I used to go regularly and take a few pics including the thermostat. Always better to keep an eye on it anyway in case of damage/leaks/break-in etc anyway I think.
I only got 3 months council tax free. Some councils even charge double after 12 months being empty.
I called the water board (no meter) and they stopped charging me at all 

Slinky

We had a buyer pull out on the week of exchange, in a November. We already had another house to move to, so we moved with the bare minimum of furniture and left the old house largely furnished. We had a friend who came and stayed over a couple of nights a week to escape a difficult situation in her own home. We left the house heated and furnished as we didn't want prospective purchasers thinking because we had already moved out we were desperate to sell. We had one lot who put in a low offer and increased it by £2k increments for a while, but sold not long later to somebody who paid more than we'd originally accepted.  I think it would have been a much different situation trying to sell a cold empty house in January.

bert4567

Yeah i think ill have time on my side and ill leave the small amount of furniture ive got left there hopefully they extend the stamp duty holiday that might help - although worst comes to worst ill stay in it until its sold, and if melbourne comes round by that point ill just have to leave it emtpy