Hi all, this is my first post here. Me and my Taiwanese partner are planning to move from Manchester in the UK to Taipei in approximately 7 months. We have a flat in Manchester (mortgaged).
Ideally I’d like to keep it and rent it out, partly incase we decide to come back, although that possibility feels remote currently. I just wondered if anyone has been in a similar position and how it’s worked out, we would have to get an agent to manage it I suppose. I’m just interested to know how mortgage providers would react to the prospect before I actually approach mine about it.
Cheers in advance
Andrew
In the UK, you have to get the bank’s permission to rent out your own house?
Apparently you can be in breach of the mortgage conditions if you don’t. I thought about Airbnb but short term let’s maybe more likely to trash the place.
The banks want to know if you’re renting out your flat because they (often, anyway) charge a slightly higher interest rate. We rent out our house in the UK and have done so for the past five years. We go through an agent and pay 10%. You have to sign something to give them permission to take tax from your rental income. For us, it’s worked out well, though sometimes the maintenance costs exceed the rental income if something big needs fixing. But these are things we would have had to fix if we were living there, so it isn’t really lost income. I’d say if rentals are in demand in your area then go for it, but don’t expect to cover the mortgage every month or make a big profit. The advantage of it is that you’ll have somewhere to go if/when you go back to the UK and you won’t face trying to get back on the property ladder. Everyone we know who sold their property before spending time abroad regrets it. They missed out on thousands of pounds of rising house prices and struggled to buy again.
Be sure to take out landlord’s insurance.
Thanks for the helpful replies. We plan to jump ship before the Brexit uncertainty fully bites.