No tenants, chaces of mortgage payment holiday?

davehulks

Hi all,

We're currenly working abroad and as such have rented out or house in the UK. We're struggling to find a new tenant in time for our next mortgage payment. What are the chances of the bank agreeing ot a payment holiday until we find a tenant? Or are there any other ways of holding out until this point? We are with HSBC if this is any help.

Thanks
Dave

PasturesNew

Does the lender know you are letting it out? Do you have an approval letter for that?
Or do you have a formal/proper BTL mortgage?
Or are you using the residential mortgage you took out when you bought it?

davehulks

Hi, yes we do have permission. Still using our old residential mortgage that we re-negotiated to a fixed rate just as we were leaving the country.

Becks045

We have a mortgage with HSBC and tried to get a payment break/holiday and they would not help! They said it isn't something they offer on any of their mortgages.

I may have been unlucky with who I spoke to although I enquired in branch and on the telephone. We didn't push it as we got tenants quicker than we expected but for example I have a friend who is with C&G and who can get a payment break for up to 6 months.

If you do manage to get a payment break, please do let us know, as I'll try again!

dunstonh

payment holidays can reduce the quality of a mortgage book and many lenders dont like to do that. Indeed, the investors underwriting some of these may not allow it.

Renting out a property and not having a cash float is a risky. Especially at the moment. If you are not coming back any time soon then you ought to consider putting the property on the market.

davehulks

Thanks for the replies guys.

We would like to put the house on the market but then we're pretty much ruling out the possibility of finding tenants as I imagine most people don't what to commit to renting a property that could be sold from under them, or that they know will be sold in 6 months time.

As as for an emergency cash fund, that would've been great. We tried the sell the house before we moved but after 3 months on the market we had no interest and no option but to rent it out just before we left, and hence have no back-up fund!

Will see what the bank has to say this month if we don't find a tenant.

silvercar

Why is it proving difficult to find tenants, with the difficulty of sourcing mortgages and the sell-to-rent brigade, you should find a tenant easily.

davehulks

You would think so!!

poppy10_2

Try dropping the rental price. Better to lose £25/month for 12 months than to lose £600 for one month's void period.