3 Year Secondment - Rent, Sell, Buy different?

biertje

Hi Everyone - I've been offered a 3 year secondment abroad with work. I will rent a place where I move to rather than buy just for a few years. I was looking for advice on what to do with my current house as I'm unsure of the best path to go down.
My options are:
1. Rent it out
2. Sell it and invest the money whilst I'm away (obviously comes with downside that investments could go down)
3. Sell and buy a few flats/smaller houses and rent those out
4. Another option I've not thought of

Bit of background on the house:  It's a classic 3 bed Victorian terrace, which probably needs a little bit of work doing to it (new carpets, paint, garden sorting etc). I'm in the fortunate position to have paid off my mortgage.

When I come back to the UK I will likely be looking to sell it to move to another house. Will I need to be back living in it for a while to avoid CGT?

Any advice on the pitfalls, benefits of the different options and other hints and tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

TBagpuss

You don't pay CGT on your own home, but if you rent it out for the three years you are away then I think you would be liable for CGT for that period whether r not you move back in when you return. I thin it is based on the total gain since purchase divided by the number of years / months owned.

So if you owned it for 30 years and it was rented out for 3, you would pay CGT on 10% of the total gain *

*Less allowances etc.

I think a big question is who you would have managing the property while you were overseas. You'd need to be clear about your legal obligations as a landlord and the additional rules about being resident overseas.

Selling and investing the money may be a lot less hassle. Yes, you run the risk of the investments not growing, or growing more slowly than property prices so you have less buying power than if you retain the house.

MultiFuelBurner

What is the current EPC rating of your house?

The reason I ask is because it has to be an E or above now but in the next 3 years whilst you are on secondment that could be raised to a C (at some point as it's on hold currently)

AI bot alert triggered lol

biertje

TBagpuss said:

You don't pay CGT on your own home, but if you rent it out for the three years you are away then I think you would be liable for CGT for that period whether r not you move back in when you return. I thin it is based on the total gain since purchase divided by the number of years / months owned.

So if you owned it for 30 years and it was rented out for 3, you would pay CGT on 10% of the total gain *

*Less allowances etc.

I think a big question is who you would have managing the property while you were overseas. You'd ne
ed to be clear about your legal obligations as a landlord and the additional rules about being resident overseas.

Selling and investing the money may be a lot less hassle. Yes, you run the risk of the investments not growing, or growing more slowly than property prices so you have less buying power than if you retain the house.

Thank you for the info on the CGT.
I would plan on using a letting agent to manage the property for me, which will of course reduce the rental income. 

My house has increased in value by £100k in the last 10 years so I would need to get about 10-15% return on investment. 

biertje

MultiFuelBurner said:

What is the current EPC rating of your house?

The reason I ask is because it has to be an E or above now but in the next 3 years whilst you are on secondment that could be raised to a C (at some point as it's on hold currently)

AI bot alert triggered lol

Thank you. It is currently E, but this was created 10 years ago. I have replaced the immersion and storage heaters with a combi boiler which should hopefully push it up to D. 

theartfullodger

My son did similar Jan 2023.  Rented property out via agent.  Be aware if you take this route you need to get registered with gov.uk non resident landlord scheme or agent MUST withhold 20%(?) of rent.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/non-resident-landlords

Done any training in how to be a landlord?? 

IMHO owing to recent decisions this country is ****ed, I suspect for at least 10 years, so working abroad a good move.. Good luck!