HELP! Converting Residential mortgage to Buy-To-Let?

Sorry for jargoning, jimbo.

I have worked for a major lender for twenty years in residential lending market. One of your previous postees commented about some being okay with it and some not. With my company, even so soon after completion, we would not have an issue with converting to btl. Circumstances change. i have seen this happen regularly where couples purchase property for first time, split up and subsequently no-one wants/can afford to live there. It happens. We charge a fee ( around £150 i think ) for consenting to the letting and this must be on an AST ( Assured Shorthold Tenancy )
We don't change the rate and we don't ask for a higher deposit.
To ensure you don't encounter future problems with the lender/inland revenue/insurance company etc tell the lender. If you are genuine you should find that they are helpful.
Can you say who the lender is? May be able to offer you more help/info.

ossie1 wrote:

I have worked for a major lender for twenty years in residential lending market. One of your previous postees commented about some being okay with it and some not. With my company, even so soon after completion, we would not have an issue with converting to btl. Circumstances change. i have seen this happen regularly where couples purchase property for first time, split up and subsequently no-one wants/can afford to live there. It happens. We charge a fee ( around £150 i think ) for consenting to the letting and this must be on an AST ( Assured Shorthold Tenancy )
We don't change the rate and we don't ask for a higher deposit.
To ensure you don't encounter future problems with the lender/inland revenue/insurance company etc tell the lender. If you are genuine you should find that they are helpful.
Can you say who the lender is? May be able to offer you more help/info.

Sorry to hijack but...

...your post identically describes my situation. Bought a property about 7 months ago with my partner/fiancee. We bought the property at a good price (in todays market) and have since spent the past 7 months completely modernising the property without living there. It now stands without carpet and a kitchen and my partner broke the news to me over christmas :rolleyes: that she no longer wants the house and is unsure about the relationship in general .

Anyway, had one valuation (valuer said that ours was the third break up he had seen that day) and got another arranged for today and there is a strong possibility that i will be able to buy her out, however, as the mortgage was arranged on a joint income, my salary alone means i could find myself about 30K short (on multiples upto 5X) for the A & L to allow me to keep on the mortgage on my own. I have a few other avenues to pursue and one (not the primary option) was to buy her out and if at all possible convert to buy to let until the end of the 2 year fix and then review the situation then (wages may have increased, savings will definitley have increased - so the mortgage would become more affordable).

Do you know how the A & L would view this?

Thanks in advance

A&L will consent to letting on payment of a fee; you won't have to change mortgage products to a BTL.

They will consider the transfer of equity on an affordability basis, not an income multiple one, so you may be able to achieve what you need - it depends on your outgoings.

If your partner wants out and isn't interested in the property, then arguably the price you pay her should reflect that - she would be triggering the repayment penalties on the loan, for example, if she made you redeem early, so she should bear the full amount of those even though you may not actually incur them because you are choosing to keep the property and the loan yourself.

Similarly, she should bear the full amount of any selling costs (estate agency fees etc) even though you aren't selling.

At the end of the day, it's her who's messing up your joint plans for the future and I don't see why you should suffer financially for that. Or more to the point, I don't see that she should benefit from value the property has gained (without taking any costs) when it's her leaving you.