Sell or Consent to Let

_Penny_Dreadful

sonub4ualt said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sonub4ualt said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

sonub4ualt said:

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice or perspectives on my situation.

Due to personal circumstances, my family and I have had to move into a rented property closer to our relatives until around October 2026. Our own house (the one we moved out of) has a mortgage renewal due in September 2026.

We’re planning to eventually sell this property and use the equity (around £160k) to buy another home once we’re settled next year. However, I’m unsure whether it makes more sense to sell now or rent it out short-term (around 9 months) to help cover costs.

The mortgage is currently £1,800/month, and paying that on top of rent (1750) is becoming a financial strain. I’ve spoken to my lender, and they’re willing to provide consent to let, so that’s an option.

My main concerns are:

If I put the house on the market now and it doesn’t sell quickly, I’ll still be stuck covering both rent and mortgage payments.

On the other hand, if I rent it out, I need to make sure I’m not overlooking anything important (especially around tax implications, CGT, or any other financial considerations). I am high rate tax payer and wife is Basic rate taxpayer and we both have 50-50 share in the property, so even if we rent it who would be liable for tax on income from rent?

The selling market isn’t great, but it’s still acceptable, so I’m just trying to weigh which option might be less risky and more practical over the next year.

Would really appreciate any thoughts or experiences from anyone who’s been in a similar position — sell now or rent short-term until next year, when the market regains some movement.

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Thanks in advance!

You need to look at this another way and ask yourself if you want to risk starting a new business using capital tied up in your home for such a short term. It makes much more sense to sell and move on.

sonub4ualt said:

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Do you have a break clause?

My question is if I find a good tenant, and the bank at the time of renewal asks me to change it to Buy-To-Let, is there a possibility for me to release some equity(currently 40%) to purchase another property. 

Some of my close family members have advised to keep the property for longer term as it is in a prime location and will fetch much higher price down 5-10 years, but built in 1930 and needs some maintenance work every other year.

train station-7 min walk
1 Nursery Outstanding-0.1 mile
2 Primary schools Good
2 Secondary schools Outstanding and Good- 0.4 miles and 0.9 miles
Two of the top 20 Grammar Schools in England -0.1 mile
Buses to city centre-every 5-6 min
All big food retailers 10-20 min walk Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, and many more.

Thanks

You could apply for a let to buy mortgage which could potentially allow you to release 15% of the equity as let to buy mortgages generally require a 25% deposit. 

Your new house purchase will attract the higher rate of SDLT which at present is an additional 5%. 

As you and your wife own the property 50/50 any rental income would need to be split 50/50. You may want to consider changing the beneficial ownership to 99/1 in your wife’s favour since you’re a higher rate tax payer. 

CGT is already a factor for you since the property is no longer your only or main home. 

How do I change the peoperty to 99/1 when she is not the main earner. If it’s possible, I will be more than happy to give her 99% and keep 1% to avoid taxes.

Also, the current move is only for very short duration may be less than a year.

Get a deed of trust drafted and executed to record the beneficial ownership as 99/1. 

Complete Form 17 and submit it to HMRC to declare the split of beneficial ownership. 

If this is only going to be for a period of less than 12 months it might not be worth letting it out at all. It’s also a bit crap for the tenant to find a home only to be expected to move again within the year. Moving is expensive and stressful. 

How long has the property been unoccupied? Check your home insurance is still covering you as most policies only an allow a property to be unoccupied for a set period. After that you need to get insurance that covers unoccupied properties…or don’t as long as you accept the risks of not being insured. 

kimwp

Have you asked your mortgage provider if they will temporarily switch to an interest only mortgage given your circumstances?

sonub4ualt

Emmia said:

sonub4ualt said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sonub4ualt said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

sonub4ualt said:

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice or perspectives on my situation.

Due to personal circumstances, my family and I have had to move into a rented property closer to our relatives until around October 2026. Our own house (the one we moved out of) has a mortgage renewal due in September 2026.

We’re planning to eventually sell this property and use the equity (around £160k) to buy another home once we’re settled next year. However, I’m unsure whether it makes more sense to sell now or rent it out short-term (around 9 months) to help cover costs.

The mortgage is currently £1,800/month, and paying that on top of rent (1750) is becoming a financial strain. I’ve spoken to my lender, and they’re willing to provide consent to let, so that’s an option.

My main concerns are:

If I put the house on the market now and it doesn’t sell quickly, I’ll still be stuck covering both rent and mortgage payments.

On the other hand, if I rent it out, I need to make sure I’m not overlooking anything important (especially around tax implications, CGT, or any other financial considerations). I am high rate tax payer and wife is Basic rate taxpayer and we both have 50-50 share in the property, so even if we rent it who would be liable for tax on income from rent?

The selling market isn’t great, but it’s still acceptable, so I’m just trying to weigh which option might be less risky and more practical over the next year.

Would really appreciate any thoughts or experiences from anyone who’s been in a similar position — sell now or rent short-term until next year, when the market regains some movement.

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Thanks in advance!

You need to look at this another way and ask yourself if you want to risk starting a new business using capital tied up in your home for such a short term. It makes much more sense to sell and move on.

sonub4ualt said:

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Do you have a break clause?

My question is if I find a good tenant, and the bank at the time of renewal asks me to change it to Buy-To-Let, is there a possibility for me to release some equity(currently 40%) to purchase another property. 

Some of my close family members have advised to keep the property for longer term as it is in a prime location and will fetch much higher price down 5-10 years, but built in 1930 and needs some maintenance work every other year.

train station-7 min walk
1 Nursery Outstanding-0.1 mile
2 Primary schools Good
2 Secondary schools Outstanding and Good- 0.4 miles and 0.9 miles
Two of the top 20 Grammar Schools in England -0.1 mile
Buses to city centre-every 5-6 min
All big food retailers 10-20 min walk Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, and many more.

Thanks

You could apply for a let to buy mortgage which could potentially allow you to release 15% of the equity as let to buy mortgages generally require a 25% deposit. 

Your new house purchase will attract the higher rate of SDLT which at present is an additional 5%. 

As you and your wife own the property 50/50 any rental income would need to be split 50/50. You may want to consider changing the beneficial ownership to 99/1 in your wife’s favour since you’re a higher rate tax payer. 

CGT is already a factor for you since the property is no longer your only or main home. 

How do I change the peoperty to 99/1 when she is not the main earner. If it’s possible, I will be more than happy to give her 99% and keep 1% to avoid taxes.

Also, the current move is only for very short duration may be less than a year.

Your problem is that tenancies are normally 12 months + so if you got a tenant, then that's the minimum they'd stay for.

Realistically, how likely is it that you'll definitely move back in a year? Are you also changing your work locations, kids schooling etc. if so all this moving will be really disruptive and you may not move back.

Is there another option, could one person move out leaving the rest of the family in the house? You haven't given any info on the situation, so it's difficult to make suggestions on alternative approaches that might be open.

If it really is just for a year, I can see the attraction of keeping it and renting it out using a managing agent - especially if the location and amenities are ones you want to return to, and you'll struggle to afford a comparable property at that point 

We were initially planning to move back within a year’s time given the location, but after suggestions given to us on the forum, we are now thinking of selling it to provide us freedom of not sticking with such a big committment. Our mortgage payments are circa£2k without bills and have 3 kids, 1secondary, 1 primary, and 1 infant group. The location gave us everything we needed to balance work and family without too much stress.

I have been WFH since COVID, so no commute, but had the freedom of school runs within short spans, my partner goes to work 3 days drives 20 min each way, so no issues. 

We will be renting for 1st time, so not sure of any pitfalls and managing property.

sonub4ualt

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sonub4ualt said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sonub4ualt said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

sonub4ualt said:

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice or perspectives on my situation.

Due to personal circumstances, my family and I have had to move into a rented property closer to our relatives until around October 2026. Our own house (the one we moved out of) has a mortgage renewal due in September 2026.

We’re planning to eventually sell this property and use the equity (around £160k) to buy another home once we’re settled next year. However, I’m unsure whether it makes more sense to sell now or rent it out short-term (around 9 months) to help cover costs.

The mortgage is currently £1,800/month, and paying that on top of rent (1750) is becoming a financial strain. I’ve spoken to my lender, and they’re willing to provide consent to let, so that’s an option.

My main concerns are:

If I put the house on the market now and it doesn’t sell quickly, I’ll still be stuck covering both rent and mortgage payments.

On the other hand, if I rent it out, I need to make sure I’m not overlooking anything important (especially around tax implications, CGT, or any other financial considerations). I am high rate tax payer and wife is Basic rate taxpayer and we both have 50-50 share in the property, so even if we rent it who would be liable for tax on income from rent?

The selling market isn’t great, but it’s still acceptable, so I’m just trying to weigh which option might be less risky and more practical over the next year.

Would really appreciate any thoughts or experiences from anyone who’s been in a similar position — sell now or rent short-term until next year, when the market regains some movement.

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Thanks in advance!

You need to look at this another way and ask yourself if you want to risk starting a new business using capital tied up in your home for such a short term. It makes much more sense to sell and move on.

sonub4ualt said:

We have however signed a Assured Shorthold tenancy for 1 year, so cannot move out of the tenancy.

Do you have a break clause?

My question is if I find a good tenant, and the bank at the time of renewal asks me to change it to Buy-To-Let, is there a possibility for me to release some equity(currently 40%) to purchase another property. 

Some of my close family members have advised to keep the property for longer term as it is in a prime location and will fetch much higher price down 5-10 years, but built in 1930 and needs some maintenance work every other year.

train station-7 min walk
1 Nursery Outstanding-0.1 mile
2 Primary schools Good
2 Secondary schools Outstanding and Good- 0.4 miles and 0.9 miles
Two of the top 20 Grammar Schools in England -0.1 mile
Buses to city centre-every 5-6 min
All big food retailers 10-20 min walk Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, and many more.

Thanks

You could apply for a let to buy mortgage which could potentially allow you to release 15% of the equity as let to buy mortgages generally require a 25% deposit. 

Your new house purchase will attract the higher rate of SDLT which at present is an additional 5%. 

As you and your wife own the property 50/50 any rental income would need to be split 50/50. You may want to consider changing the beneficial ownership to 99/1 in your wife’s favour since you’re a higher rate tax payer. 

CGT is already a factor for you since the property is no longer your only or main home. 

How do I change the peoperty to 99/1 when she is not the main earner. If it’s possible, I will be more than happy to give her 99% and keep 1% to avoid taxes.

Also, the current move is only for very short duration may be less than a year.

Get a deed of trust drafted and executed to record the beneficial ownership as 99/1. 

Complete Form 17 and submit it to HMRC to declare the split of beneficial ownership. 

If this is only going to be for a period of less than 12 months it might not be worth letting it out at all. It’s also a bit crap for the tenant to find a home only to be expected to move again within the year. Moving is expensive and stressful. 

How long has the property been unoccupied? Check your home insurance is still covering you as most policies only an allow a property to be unoccupied for a set period. After that you need to get insurance that covers unoccupied properties…or don’t as long as you accept the risks of not being insured. 

I understand for any tenant it is stressful to go through this process for two years successively. The property has been empty for about a week now, going through a bit of repair to get it ready for market both (renting or for sale).

I was told by the mortgage provider to let the home insurance people know about keeping the property empty.

sonub4ualt

kimwp said:

Have you asked your mortgage provider if they will temporarily switch to an interest only mortgage given your circumstances?

No, not sure if this is possible, also will this effect my borrowing going forward. 

NorthYorkie

If letting, do you need a Local Authority licence, like Rachel?