Letting out your home in UK

[Guest hrubieszowianka]

Hello!

We haven't managed to sell our house, although we were sure it'd go quick. Unfortunately credit crunch happened and here we are, thinking about letting the house out.

I would be great if any of you with experience of being a landlord could share some tips with me re: finding tenants, managing the property etc.

Thanks!

[julie-ruth]

Hello we have the same problem and going down the same avenue, we are going through an estate agent that gives full management with letting, they hold the deposit check the house every six months and do an itenary of the house photo's and discription so the house is returned in the same order as it is left or the deposit pays for the repairs, we are also taking out rental insurance so if the tennant stops paying and still lives there the insurance company takes over.

 

My advice is go and see every estate and letting agent their fee's do differ and so does there managment and services. You can also muti-let with different companys.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Julie

[Liz and Kris UK]

HI

 

We currently live in Adelaide and have been renting our house out in the Uk for several months now. We have found the process quite easy as our management company takes care of any issues that arise and contact us via email regularly. Obviously it is not ideal but we have now started saving for a deposit on a house here and are thinking of keeping the house in the uk long term as an investment property.

 

 

Kris

[Guest Maz14]

HI

 

We currently live in Adelaide and have been renting our house out in the Uk for several months now. We have found the process quite easy as our management company takes care of any issues that arise and contact us via email regularly. Obviously it is not ideal but we have now started saving for a deposit on a house here and are thinking of keeping the house in the uk long term as an investment property.

 

 

Kris

 

We're also going to do the same thing and rent our house out as a long term investment opportunity. Have you had any problems with tennants and do you think rental insurance is a good idea? Thanks!

[Jo & Steve]

Hi, we are also going to rent out when we come over in March. Using a local Estate Agent to manage the rental and check the house every 3-6 months, but also going to get a good landlords insurance. I rented a house out a few years ago and the tenants stopped paying the rent and it took 11 months to get my own house back from the tenants when we finally got to court, if you dont do things by the book legally the tenants end up with more rights than you the owner. So a good Agent is a must. Hope this is of some help.

Jo x

[Guest HALT]

Hi All i would say is use an agent or property management company. We decided to rent out house out ourselves. It has cost a fortune between solicitors and time on the phone, paperwork etc. I now know the agents actually earn their money. Once this tenancy ends we will swap to an agent. Hassle Hassle Hassle!!!!

[Guest FlyByNight]

Ensure you go with an agent who is a member of ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents) http://www.arla.co.uk/ Membership of this body demonstrates that the agent subscribes to and meets strict business standards, and gives you a degree of security in the knowledge that they will not rip you off :jimlad:.

 

Also check that the terms of your mortgage have provision for you to let. We have looked into letting but cannot with our current lender as there is no provision in our T&C's. Remortgaging would be practical if anyone was offering more than 75% to value but they're not unless you have money to burn by way of extortionate interest rates.

[Guest katsmajic]

Look at the Australian TAX implications of doing this aswell though.

 

As far as 'I' have found out it is classed as income - regardless to whether it only covers the mortage payments.