Renting a property in UK...

[Kooky]

We are currently trying to sell our UK house to start our new lives in oz. we plan to go as soon as it's sold. We are worried though it may not sell very quickly (houses where we are are not shifting well yet) so are considering if it would be worth while trying to rent it out instead. We only have a tiny mortgage on it so 75% of the rental would be ours which at first seemed great.

 

can anyone who has or still does rent out their UK home tell me what the pros/cons are of doing it? Also things I may need to consider - eg income tax etc.

 

It will have implications for example - we were going to use our equity to enable us to buy a property in oz so we would end up not having a deposit for one - are 100% mortgages available?! We were selling (despite only just doing an extension and ending up with our dream home!) so we had to 'give it a go' in oz more (if that makes sense). We feel that a clean break may be easier as all the time we still have a home here it'll be easier to just decide to move back if we have rough patches with homesickness or whatever. Renting it out (presuming we can get a tenant quickly) would enable us to get to oz quicker which seems better - we are teachers and have been advised if we get there before sept/oct we stand more chance of getting work.

 

Any thoughts on this would be really useful - I am 50/50 as to persevere selling or just going ahead and renting it.

[Rupert]

Well the pro is that you can rent the property out and move over sooner, rather than be in limbo, some people have had their visas expire whilst they are trying to sell their house. Renting it out is a bit of income and your mortgage being paid. Yes there is tax but you are being taxed on profit, sometimes I think people would rather make losses or have no income than pay tax. To me this is as illogical as turning down a pay rise because your annual tax bill will go up.

 

The con is that it can be bothersome renting out a property from the other side of the world. Every you use an agent it is not always trouble free. Our last tenant trashed our house, I have had to get things sorted from overseas and am just over here now finishing off. I certainly would not be a landlord by choice again, only necessity.

 

No I don't think you are going to get a 100pc mortgage in Australia, in fact you really don't want to borrow more than 80pc if you. Can as mortgage indemnity kicks I and is very expensive. Buying straight away is not a great idea anyway though, renting allows myopic to get a feel for an area and not make an expensive mistake.

[Gbye grey sky]

Renting it out if possible at least for the short term seems sensible in your position. After all you do not have jobs lined up so talk of mortgages in Oz is a bit premature. I understand that teaching vacancies and opportunities are generally quite limited so you may actually need to return, it would certainly be wise to give yourself that option.

[Kooky]

Thanks Rupert. Sorry to hear your house was trashed! Was it furnature or the actual house itself? We are thinking of doing it unfurnished as we thought it may be less to worry about/replace/fix.

 

We we wouldn't buy a house straight away anyway as we don't know where we will be living or have jobs etc. plus it'd be nice to if ad a place we like the area. I worry if we sell wed end up buying quicker and then not necessarily in the 'right' place as we may rush into it.

 

Thanks too gbye grey sky. I know we couldng get a mortgage straight away - just thinking ahead. As for returning if we don't get jobs - we both have a few other skills we could use if teaching isn't an option and don't necessarily have to stay in teaching. I am also not proud and will work anywhere to get an income to ensure my boys are ok so I think we could possibly stay anyway (perhaps with less of an income).

 

Its helpful to to get your ideas. Think we won't rush into a decision but still thinking it could be an option. I think one of my worries is actually renting a family home - not sure how many people need to rent one and therefore we could end up with an empty house!