Son wants to buy a flat/small house

Whiterose23

Hi, I need a bit of advice.

I have sold my house and am about to move to a different part of the country (buying mortgage-free). My son is going to buy a flat to keep a base in the area we are leaving, so he is looking at buying his first home here. However, as his job is freelance, he envisages renting it out part of the year when he isn't there as in AirB&B or holiday let (he will be living with me when he's away).

Only his name will be on the mortgage and I would be helping him with a deposit.

I'm aware that mortgage lenders and leaseholders etc would need to give permission. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks

elsien

Renting it out a few months a year on a standard tenancy probably isn’t going to fly because of having no guarantee of getting the tenant out at the same time he wants his property back.

Would he be looking at a different type of arrangement such as Airbnb type short-term let?

mta999

Also there are quite a number of potential costs involved with letting which might make a short-term let unprofitable

for example gas safety, electrical safety, deposit protection, landlord insurance, upgrading house insurance if necessary

then the check-in check out inventory costs if you're going to have those and then the whole cost of drawing up a short-term tenancy agreement

Then there is dealing with HMRC …

Finally, when your son wants to move in there's no guarantee the tenant will want to move out!

Whiterose23

Sorry I should have said; this would be as a weekly let or AirB&B or something similar.

Whiterose23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870106#Comment_81870106

Yes he wants to look at doing it as an AirB&B/short term let.

Albermarle

Worth reading this thread.

Renting out my house air b & b — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Whiterose23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870139#Comment_81870139

Sorry I should have said he would only let it out on a weekly basis as and when, as with an AirB&B.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870278#Comment_81870278

And has he found a mortgage which would let him do that? Generally BTL mortgages require longer term tenancies, not holiday lets.

There are also potential additional hoops to jump through for planning or licensing for short-term lets, depending on where the property is.

Whiterose23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870291#Comment_81870291

No he hasn't, which is why I'm asking on here if anyone is in this position. We do know some lenders do allow this however, with certain limitations.

Whiterose23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870246#Comment_81870246

I've read through but it doesn't really help; there are so many different opinions and comments, I don't find it that clear.

eddddy

If it's a leasehold flat, it's very likely to have a covenant in the lease that prevents holiday letting.

Typically, the lease would say you can't rent out the flat for less than 6 months at a time - or it might say you can't rent it out at all.

You might have more luck where leaseholders have bought the freehold (i.e. a share of freehold flat) and then varied the leases to allow holiday letting - in order to make more money. But then your son might be living in a building full of holiday makers, stag/hen party groups, etc.

Anyway, you could try saying to estate agents that you only want to view flats with leases that allow short-term holiday letting, but I'm not sure how well that would work.

It would probably get very expensive in abortive solicitors' fees, if you randomly offered on properties and then waited for your solicitor to read the lease and tell you if holiday lets were allowed.