To ask would you bother being a landlord in this situation?

Insuring an empty house can be very difficult to find an insurer. A good tenant will be an asset

I think if you did this, you would need to give notice to the tenants at least 6/12 before your planned return, and accept that this would cause a shortfall in income, just in case you needed to start eviction proceedings.

Do not be tempted to follow this advice :” you could give a small family the chance to live somewhere decent for three years at a low ish rent, why wouldn't you?”
At the end of the term the family would have nowhere to go that was comparable with your house and rent. You’d probably have a fight to get them out because, why would they go before they absolutely had to? I’ve been in this situation and it’s stressful and expensive and at the end of it they created a lot of damage out of spite. Be careful when it’s your family home, it’s very different from renting out a buy to let.

So I don't even know how feasible this would be but yes it seems a shame that a house is going unused when someone could need it but the while system is f* up when you want to claim your house back that you feel like you need to give a years notice, and save any rental fees to cover the possible court costs

My wonder is could you rent it to a charity e.g refuge for domestic violence knowing that you would give them how ever much notice they would need that you are moving back?
It could be a negligible sum whatever works out best for both parties but maybe not renting directly to tenants would make it easier to claim possession back?

ZOMBIE

My sister lives abroad and lets her house out to a local company which uses it to house staff on temporary placement - a bit like what your company is doing with you. Is that a possibility. You don't really want to risk squatters by leaving your property empty.

Another option would be Property Guardianship. This would probably be the better option.

I'd rent it out, but I'd rent it via an agent.

In a similar situation, we left ours empty. Then the pandemic hit, DH went back to help DD move out of her halls which were being closed due to Covid. The plan was that they flew back to be with me three days later… only there were no flights and they were stuck in UK for the next 6 months +

Given that op asked the question in June last year, I imagine they've made their decision by now.

You can also put a break clause in your two year contract at one year in case you want to come home early (or they want to leave).

I moved abroad for two years and rented out my house. I rented it out through a major estate agent and even then double checked every tenant myself (the EA will do anything for a sale including trying to push a couple who were bankrupt, young person without a guarantor and a group of young people without a some person named as in charge).

If yours is a high end rental then I wouldn't worry about tenants overstaying. I did rent empty though and my friend who rented furnished in a similar situation (four years away! had the tenant move out and take the furniture with him!
put aside money to refresh after they leave as wear and tear is inevitable.
get someone to manage (a friend/relative). Always deal through that person or an agent.

rents are so high for eg in London that three years could be 150,000 before tax

Well I would rent it out BUT give about 10 months notice that you want to move back in and get the tenancy drawn up by an expert.

Hi
we have 3 rental properties which we own outright following a lot of hard work to work towards a comfortable retirement,
We have 3 lovely tenants which we interviewed and have developed good relationships with these lovely people.
we know we are lucky, I wouldn’t use a rental agency, again we are lucky to have sons locally who can assist with any emergencies.
if you are in a similar position and have checked references and backgrounds, carry out gas and electrical annual checks and your property is at a high standard then it is good to rent when you are unable to occupy your property.
Its always a difficult decision but if your honest with your tenants and treat them with the respect they deserve then hopefully it can work out. Good luck.

Evicting is really not that easy. Apart from the cost and the hassle of having someone in the flat who you now have a dysfunctional relationship with and who has possibly stopped paying any rent or taking care of the place, there are big backlogs in the courts and it can take a year to get them out.

Can you let it out / rent it out through work? More likely to find someone in a similar position who wants a short term tenancy & very unlikely to have issues with them leaving or paying rent

Don't bother, if you get a feral tenant it won't be worth it

I have been charged double council tax on an empty property before and home insurance wouldn't be valid. We went abroad for several months and decided the hassle and risks of renting weren't worth it (plus the house is old and a bit of a work in progress for us) but if I was going for longer than 6 months I think I would rent it

Lodger actually sounds like perfect scenario if you want to be back to visit family a few times a year.

That’s rubbish, you can have your house back with no problem if you or a member of your family want to move into it, or sell it. No fault evictions have nothing to do with you requiring the house back. Don’t be frightened off by people spouting rubbish!

My parents house was empty after their death, we were all abroad so selling was difficult when in different countries.

The local homeless used the garden as a hang out and almost set fire to the house.

Don't leave it empty is all I can say or throw some money at a local estate agent to at least keep you in the loop.

Also, if you have a mortgage then the lender might not agree to the property being let out.

The Ministry of defence used to rent a house a few doors down from me. It meant a string of army officers in uniform over about 15 years being seen occasionally. The landlord sold the house a couple of years ago. I know DH lived in a house with a couple of other trainees that the company he worked for rented. That’s the only way I would consider renting out.

I did exactly this and never ended up going back to the property so still rent it now. I was originally only supposed to be away for a year but it ended up being 6. In that time I had saved a good deposit for a bigger house. My circumstances are slightly different as I met my husband and stared a family when we come back to the UK which meant it wouldn't have been big enough anyway and we also ended up in a completely different area of the country. I've now rented it out for 13 years. Generally the contract is for 12 months and then when it's coming to an end, I'm approached by the management company to see if I want to continuing renting it out. The current tenants have been there 7 years. They pay about £100 a month under market value as I appreciate that they're really good tenants and I'd rather have peace of mind that they're looking after the place than more money, but I only knew they were good tenants once they were in. I know see it as part of my retirement plan. The mortgage is almost paid off so it was a good decision for me

You take your morals from the Tory party?

Imagine if 5m people decided to keep a house in the U.K. just for the occasional trip back?

I love that I sound like a crazed fantasist that I believe shelter is a human right. There are enough homes/buildings in the U.K. for everyone to live in, in secure ways. As a nation we have chosen to pretend there are not, and that we need to build more. It’s pure marketing from U.K. Property Plc of which every homeowner is a paid up member.

DS and DDIL have just had this dilemma (though DS’ new job - which comes with accommodation - is open ended ie it’s nothing like a fixed term military posting). They have reluctantly decided to sell their beautiful house (which they bought for DS’ previous job, which didn’t come with accommodation) because of the pitfalls of renting. They plan to buy a tiny bolt hole in their home city just to keep on the property ladder.