Anyone renting out their house back in the UK?

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Hi all

 

We're due to be coming out this Summer for a couple of years - can't wait.

 

We want to rent out our UK house in the meantime because we don't know what our long term plans will be.

 

We're on a terrible fixed rate with the Halifax at the mo (5.19%) which is due to end in September, while we'll be in Adelaide (all being well).

 

At which point, our mortgage would normally drop to 3.5%. Ker-ching we say! But wait...... Because interest rates have dropped through the floor recently, Halifax have sniffed out that they can grab some cash from this and are insisting we would need to take a "consent to lease product" at..... 5.69% ! That's higher than the rate we pay now!

 

We really don't want to rent our UK house without the lender's permission, but we don't like being ripped off either - when interest rates were higher they just charged 1.5% above your normal rate for consent to lease. Now the rates are low, all of a sudden consent to lease "products" are compulsory - almost like a buy-to-let mortgage.

 

I just hate the way banks/mortgage companies sniff out that you might "do well" from the low interest rates, and put a stop to it.

 

Anyhoot - has anyone get any recent experience of this? Anyone recently rented their house in the UK and got consent to lease on better terms?

 

Our only other option is to move mortgages in September whilst we're in Oz - can't be easy.... Anyone done that either?

 

Or move mortgage provider a month or two early (and pay Halifax's £1,080 early penalty fee).

 

I don't have a lot of love for the Halifax right now...

 

So - any tales of similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

 

Can't wait to join you!

 

RTL

[Guest bosco]

just take out landlord insurance and say nothing to the bank . they re always on the make.i have a house rented for the past 4 years.

[Guest babtridge]

I've been renting mine out for 5 years and its still a residential mortgage, never said it was being rented. As the above post states make sure you have landlords insurance AND Gas and Electricity certificates.

 

My rate is 3.79% and they will not fix it again as there's not enough equity in the place. I recognise how stressful it must be for you but dont let summat like that put you off. So long as you can afford to pay it you should be golden but make sure you have a good letting agent too.

 

I am emigrating in a few months and one of my main worries is about how to renew a mortgage from over there.

 

Good luck

[Guest Guest75]

Hey guys............

 

Sorry I'm being a bit of a boring moderator here.............:GEEK:

 

 

Any post in PIA is viewable by visitors and cached in all search engines.

 

Be careful what you say in full public view,it can come back and bite you in the bum.

 

(it has done for some folk a few times!)

 

<boring public service announcement over>

[Guest taunton]

HI

 

we've just gone through similar situation...we are returning to OZ, I phoned mortgage company and said about renting the house out, they would instantly add a further 1% to monthly payment, couldn't believe it....years and years ago I had a friend who travelled for 3 years and she was able to rent out her house with no problems and the mortgage company knew,, but obviously things have changed...

 

We are luck though, after finding this out we put the house on the market last week and accepted an offer yesterday...very very lucky in todays climate...

 

My word of advise would be ,,,,very very careful, I was told that if they find out that you have retnted out and not told them and they find out then your mortgage is at risk, I didn't go into details, but the advise I was given was don't take the chance....so not taking the chance.....

 

Good luck...

 

Wend & gang

[Guest shella_n]

we rented our out when we came last year and our bank (HSBC) didnt charge us anytghing - we just filled in a form and they gave us their consent. We are currently paying 1.49 % variable but the whole experience has been a bit of a nightmare and added huge stress to a very stressfull time coming to Australia - and has proved very expensive too! Yesterday I told my agents to put it on the market for sale. Im worried about the interest rates going up and also I cant be doing with the stress anymore (just my experience though - heaps of people dont have any problems at all)

[Guest martin495]

Hi, We tried to sale but couldnt get what we wanted for it so decided to rent it out, We have three seperate tenants who are girlfrinds and work together each are jointly liable, they are no problem. This provides a good income. The best thing to do is bring your uk credit card and pay your bill online so the money never leaves the uk. Just let your card company know your visiting oz.

Onto the mortgage. We have an offset mortgage with barclays which tracks just above the base rate(lucky us) all I had to do was put in a permisssion to let form which cost 25 pounds by cheque, but never cashed. This is valid for up to two years, we never recieved an answer. so the tenants pay the rent,

The rent pays the mortgage, insurance and credit card bills and everybodies happy.

 

Hope this helps

Martin

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Thanks all.

 

Tyke - not really sure if anything I said was going to get me into trouble? I mean, I openly said we didn't want to rent the house without permission..... Other than that there was a bit of an anti-Halifax rant I suppose......... They started it !! !! !!

 

I've heard they can be quite harsh on people that don't declare they're renting (might be a horror story, but repossessions have been quoted) but at the very least they may ask you to instantly repay the mortgage (which means moving it....)

 

It's good to know about the HSBC etc, I know the Halifax does (now) have a bad reputation for this sort of thing.

 

Our plan is to approach some other lenders and be honest about our plans. We've been spotless in our repayments for 9+ years, and we're only looking at a 50% mortgage anyway! We'll have to do it all from Oz, but for now we're just going to research other lenders.

 

Doing the right thing (in this case 'owning up') always costs more.

 

Drives me mad - really.....

 

Thanks again,

 

RTL

[Hutchy]

We told our mortgage provider, and just had to fill in form. They didn't increase payments at all.

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Was that a while back? Which bank (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

I can't believe the Halifax are making me "take a product" - stinks.

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Actually - come to think of it, while we're on our current fixed rate (5.19%) they don't want any extra. They're getting enough at the trough.

 

When we "drop" onto their standard variable rate (3.5%) all of a sudden we need to "take a product" at 5.69%........ Go figure.

 

=================================

"The Halifax - Always on Top"

:Randy-git:

=================================

[Hutchy]

Was that a while back? Which bank (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

I can't believe the Halifax are making me "take a product" - stinks.

 

We're with Cheltenham and Gloucester. Had to take out landlords insurance, which wasn't too bad. We only came here in November, so it was quite recently.

[Guest Guest75]

Thanks all.

 

Tyke - not really sure if anything I said was going to get me into trouble? I mean, I openly said we didn't want to rent the house without permission..... Other than that there was a bit of an anti-Halifax rant I suppose......... They started it !! !! !!

 

 

Hiya RTL,

 

Sorry about that. There are "suggestions" of not telling the building society in posts .

 

 

Have to be careful of the site and legal action as well.

We often have to remove names from posts.

[Guest Guest75]

Thanks all.

 

Tyke - not really sure if anything I said was going to get me into trouble? I mean, I openly said we didn't want to rent the house without permission..... Other than that there was a bit of an anti-Halifax rant I suppose......... They started it !! !! !!

 

 

Hiya RTL,

 

Sorry about that. There are "suggestions" of not telling the building society in posts .

 

 

Have to be careful of the site and legal action as well.

We often have to remove names from posts.

 

PS - I have little love for financial institutions to say the least!!!:jimlad:

[Sears Family]

We're with Cheltenham and Gloucester. Had to take out landlords insurance, which wasn't too bad. We only came here in November, so it was quite recently.

 

Me too

Very easy process. My rate drops this year too so will be interesting to see what happens

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Hi, thanks - will check them out.

 

If they're like the Halifax, they'll ask you to go for a consent to lease product... I really hope they don't!

 

I'll check em out - we've pretty much decided to bin the Halifax, almost outta principle.

 

Cheers again!

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Hi Tyke

 

Funnily enough my Dad is a retired banker type and his instant response was "don't tell em, no-one else will"....!

 

Not our style though - we'll have enough to think about when we take the plunge

 

I'll just go on the record to say Halifax have a range of products to suit everyone, their call centre staff are first rate, their policies are fair and well spelt out - and they treat the customer as No 1.

 

Oh, and Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor just waltzed past my livin room window!!!!

 

Ha ha ha.

 

Thanks everyone!!

[Guest Clarky]

Was that a while back? Which bank (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

I can't believe the Halifax are making me "take a product" - stinks.

 

 

Hiya

 

That would really tick me off aswell. We are coming to Adelaide in August and will be renting our house out.

We've got an openplan mortgage with Barclays and they said they don't increase the rate (currently 1.45%) as long as its no longer than two years.

We thought by then we will know whether to make Oz our permanent home, so suits us fine.

 

Perhaps its worth contacting them.

 

Hope all goes well

 

Trish

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Hiya

 

That would really tick me off aswell. We are coming to Adelaide in August and will be renting our house out.

We've got an openplan mortgage with Barclays and they said they don't increase the rate (currently 1.45%) as long as its no longer than two years.

We thought by then we will know whether to make Oz our permanent home, so suits us fine.

 

Perhaps its worth contacting them.

 

Hope all goes well

 

Trish

 

That's an amzing deal..... Well done! Beats Halifax's 5.69% !! !! !!

We're looking to move mortgages before we come out to Oz, but most lenders require you to live in the property (via their mortgage of course) for 6 month before they'll grant consent to lease.

 

We might actually be stuck with Halifax and their bargain 5.69%.

 

I love the Halifax with all my heart.

[Guest TheYales]

Hi Ryan

 

We had the same issues, didnt get the offer we wanted for our home, have decided to rent out. We are with Nationwide and they have been great. Had to complete a simple form, consent to lease and no changes have been made to our mortgage other than that it will now stay on a variable rate.

We fly out to Adelaide next week and are leaving two lovely tenants in our home, so hopefully it will continue to be a positive experience!

Best of luck in getting your mortgage sorted!

 

Annie

[The Sowters]

Hi. We still own our house in the UK and our mortgage is with Santander (Alliance and Leicester) and we pay them the nominal admin fee of £100 per year for their consent for us to let the house and have just changed our morgage to a tracker. They did not quibble at all when initially we spoke about renting our house out nor did they try and say we had to have a landlords mortgage etc. Currently we are on a 2.49% tracker for 2 years - bargain. Wish I could bring enough money out to buy one here at those rates. Good luck.

[Guest KTR]

I'm feeling your pain Ryan.

 

I have been in Australia for a couple of years on a 4yr permit which runs out in 2013. I phoned the Halifax tonight as our consent to lease runs out in September and I wanted to extend until our move back to the UK in 2013. Really annoyed when told that I have to go onto a higher rate either 5.89 or 6.89 and pay them $1499 for the pleasure. I am currently on 3.5% variable rate. I think our hands are tied, not sure I want the hassle of trying to move providers whilst still over here. If anyone knows of a solution/loop hole/way round this please share. Thanks KTR

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

I'm feeling your pain Ryan.

 

I have been in Australia for a couple of years on a 4yr permit which runs out in 2013. I phoned the Halifax tonight as our consent to lease runs out in September and I wanted to extend until our move back to the UK in 2013. Really annoyed when told that I have to go onto a higher rate either 5.89 or 6.89 and pay them $1499 for the pleasure. I am currently on 3.5% variable rate. I think our hands are tied, not sure I want the hassle of trying to move providers whilst still over here. If anyone knows of a solution/loop hole/way round this please share. Thanks KTR

 

I was passed the details of a mortgage advisor here in the UK (her daughter is on PIA) and she is sorting us a buy-to-let mortgage now. She's doing a great job, too.

 

She did mention it can be tricky to remortgage from abroad, which is why we're doing it ASAP before we leave. We have done all the paperwork and it should (fingers crossed) just complete and transfer over while we're in Oz.

 

We got told about the £1499 "fee" to transfer to a higher rate, too. Unbeliveable. They really want their piece of the action, don't they? And all this for EXISTING customers, too. Shocking.

[Guest Nick Tuck]

Hi. We have ours rented and have a mortgage with HSBC. we did let them know & we dont pay anymore.

 

With that in mind I would guess that there would be a few lenders that would be the smae.

 

My advice is, that if you are coming to an end of a fixed term, then shop around,, speak to a broker. There must be a better deal, and then if you go back to your existing and tell them they will lose the business then who knows??

 

Keeping your house back in the UK i think is a great idea. Will depend on your tennants of course though. we are very lucky and have great tennants & we dont hear a thing. We are aware that the house prices are not going up, but basically we are keeping our investment and the mortgage is being paid off.

 

It is there as security as an investment to us, and if we ever decided to come home (which is definitely not the plan) then its also there.

 

Godd luck

 

Nick Tuck

[sueoc]

We have ours rented out in the UK,and have just got a mortgage here.My dream when we got here 3 yrs ago was to have one here,and one there,so tentatively we are on track,BUT we are realistic enough to accept that this may well not be a realistic prospect.Our mortgage in the UK could be finished off without a major financial crisis for us,but i don't wish to do that,as we will be deemed as having an overseas investment,and the taxman will be duly interested no doubt.Happy to rent the house out,but really do find it stressful that the present Tenants will leave(they,ve been there 3 yrs)We are walking on a tight rope at the moment,with our fingers crossed.To me both the UK and Australia are great,i love them both equally.