Considering renting my house out. Advice?

helpimcrap

helpimcrap

helpimcrap

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Joined
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Leicestershire
What do I need to rent my house out?

Do I need to change my mortgage over to buy to let or am I ok keeping it on current?
Insurances I'd assume the renter pays for?
 
You own the house, therefore you are responsible for buildings insurance and they (tenant) are responsible for contents insurance, assuming you would be renting it out as unfurnished.

You would need to speak to your mortgage company to see if they will allow it to be rented out on your current mortgage.
 
Nationwide charge 1% extra over your current rate to authorise letting it out, other mortgage companies charge different amounts. Just something to consider.

You’ll likely need certain fire alarms, fire safety equipment, etc. depends on your local authority. Legionnaires testing, PAT testing, gas and electric certification.
 
AFAIK... (2nd hand info)

BTL Mortgage
Permission from your Mortgage Company (Some are a %some simply a fee - My mate was charged £150 "admin" when he changed)
Landlord Gas Safety Check
Electrical Installation Condition Report
Buildings insurance (Contents are renters responsbility)
Landlord / Liability insurance (I'd make sure to have legal cover as well)

I was told you also need to tick all the boxes for firey type shenanigans
Fire blanket near oven/in kitchen
Smoke / Carbon Monoxide Alarms
My mate stuck a little fire extinguisher under the sink as well

With the current energy prices as well Id be very strict on meter readings before/after any tenants with photo proof.

You'll likely get a better response to this in Home & Garden so I've moved it for you :)
 
We did this for a couple of years, I didn't need to change mortgages but got a 'consent to let'.

Don't know if these still exist, but it was very easy.

Went through a property let company who then managed everything for me.

Had one tenant who was fantastic, but the next one put me off for life - we sold the property and decided we'd never get into letting again!
 
Thanks for all the help, advice and warnings.

I know there are more rules now for renting but I wouldn't see them as an issue.

Good point about HMRC - forgot about that.
 
It's a pain. We did okay with our rental.

Lots of ad-hoc costs. If you're handy with DIY or get Trades People at a good rate, then you're onto a winner.

Ensure that you have your annual gas safety checks done.

Tenancy deposit scheme also. HMRC.

However, when we wanted to buy a new house, we would have had to pay stamp duty on our new house AND our rental property, so we cut our losses and sold it.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
We did this for a couple of years, I didn't need to change mortgages but got a 'consent to let'.

Don't know if these still exist, but it was very easy.

Went through a property let company who then managed everything for me.

Had one tenant who was fantastic, but the next one put me off for life - we sold the property and decided we'd never get into letting again!
Click to expand...

This simple consent to let sounds like what my mate did, he didn't have to reapply or anything it was just added onto his mortgage for the fee
 
Had a single mum move into mine. Ex husband said he'd pay 6 months rent in advance as she wasn't working, didn't have references etc - that should have been a red flag :(

Within a few months I had some people on the same street call me and say if she isn't kicked out they would be putting my windows through - wtf?

Turns out single mum had shagged most of the married men on the street - oof!

Got her out, got the house back and despite no dogs, she had 2 living there. The internal living room doors were chewed and the 2 x doors also had a foreign substance at the bottom of each.

Took the 2 doors off into the garage, as I was cleaning them down with hot water, the substance started to melt and gave off a horrid ammonia smell. Only thing we can think of was that she was locking the dogs in the living room and the dogs were ******* up against the doors. As she wasn't cleaning, the urine was just building up over time.

Some nice people out there.
 
Hades said:
You also need to declare the income to the HMRC and pay tax on it.
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100%. You need to do a self assessment form and you'll have to pay the relevant extra tax. Or if you're likely to grow your portfolio you can set up an LTD I believe and the company owns the priorities which can help lower tax burden but it's more effort...
 
Be vary of people who can pay 6 months in advance etc as it's usually a red flag that they have no other money and they'll fail to pay when the 7th month comes round.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
We did this for a couple of years, I didn't need to change mortgages but got a 'consent to let'.

Don't know if these still exist, but it was very easy.

Went through a property let company who then managed everything for me.

Had one tenant who was fantastic, but the next one put me off for life - we sold the property and decided we'd never get into letting again!
Click to expand...

The place I bought was rented out by the previous owners. If I was renting I would always plan for the nightmare situation and the stress it entails.

When I purchased my home, I knew when viewing, the seller had clearly rented and it was trashed, brand new carpets stained, walls marked etc. The kitchen, only installed 18 months was knocked about. When redecorating you could see the seller had ensured the home was fitted to a high standard with little cost spared and yet had the tenant from hell.

Talking to my neighbours, I learned the previous tenant was a dentist who with his family, did a bunk leaving a load of damaged furniture etc. :eek:
 
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I think you need to speak to a local letting agent, even if you dont use them, they'll tell you what they'll charge you for arranging.

In Nottingham, where I recently sold a property, I had to have a local authority certificate of some sort that allowed me to let a property, gas checks but nothing like fire blankets.

Edit: and yep I was with Nationwide, rang them and told them I had to move so was letting me house, they charged me a 1% premium for that.
 
wesimmo said:
I think you need to speak to a local letting agent, even if you dont use them, they'll tell you what they'll charge you for arranging.

In Nottingham, where I recently sold a property, I had to have a local authority certificate of some sort that allowed me to let a property, gas checks but nothing like fire blankets.

Edit: and yep I was with Nationwide, rang them and told them I had to move so was letting me house, they charged me a 1% premium for that.
Click to expand...

Selective licensing, Leicester City Council have a scheme starting on 10 October 2022. Rent your property out without a licence and you might find yourself with a rent repayment order.

Leicester City Council

A new licensing scheme has been introduced in Leicester to help improve private rented accommodation in three areas of the city adversely affected by housing-related problems. The scheme will also protect tenants from rogue landlords whose properties do not meet required standards.
www.leicester.gov.uk www.leicester.gov.uk
 
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