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

I wouldn't. Too much work. We were in the same situation for years and never bothered.

Yes but that can be a massive costly legal process that can take months and months

Do stop scaremongering.

The government is talking about abolishing S21 notices, often known as "no fault" evictions.

However, S8 notices will remain, and one of the S8 grounds is that the landlord used to live there and wants to move back in.

Yes, I'd rent it out, but I'd use a proper property mgmnt company and charge market rent. Be prepared for repainting and repairs upon return. I learned the hard way to not rent cheaply to anyone for any reason.

Wrong. That's not the case if you want to move back into your house that you live in previously.

Living in the house yourself beforehand and needing it back to live in again when you return will be one of the reasons you can get possession under the proposals. You still might have to go to court though.

I wouldn't; renters can do so much damage.

My sister did this and thought everything would work out well, as the person she rented to actually worked for the managing agents she chose to go with.

Paid the rent for 3 months and then just stopped. The amount of e-mails and calls over months and months to the tenant and managing agent, with just excuse after excuse. My sister found out, via the gardener, that this girls was going off on weekends away and holidays abroad whilst not paying the rent.

In the end, my sister had to fly home and turned up at the managing agents office and refused to leave until she got some answers. Got sorted in the end and it took her 12 months to get all her rent. All very stressful.

If you let it out make sure you take out good landlord's insurance. Something that covers you for any periods when rent isn't paid during a tenancy, and that completely manages eviction processes. Some agencies include it in their service, which of course means it costs more, but also that they should manage any claims needed.

We are in this exact predicament - rented out cheaply to a family for years and now they can’t afford to move out. We were silly enough to give them a lengthy notice because they have children and wanted them to have more time than the contract states, but they advised us to go though the court to get them out and are refusing to communicate. It will probably take us a year to regain access to our home.

I'd vote against. We used to rent a place out (did so for years), but have stopped doing so. The rental market is pretty broken, and the law is increasingly designed to discourage rentals in various ways. If you can afford not to it's better avoided.

You don't say where you are (understandably) but if you were in a University town/city you could maybe ask their accommodation office about visiting lecturing staff, they'd be on a fixed term contract, and more likely to be leaving at the end of that and not cause any issues.
Similarly large nationwide companies (such as the BBC) also worth pursuing. I'm not sure I'd want my home left empty for 3 or more years.

Be aware that when you rent to the council, it's not really to the council. In some places, it may actually be to a private company that takes responsibility for bringing a tenant in. They promise to pay you a guaranteed rent. But the fine print is that the rent is guaranteed for only 4-6 months. And damage caused by tenants is not necessarily covered. There are tenants who will refuse to move so that they can be considered homeless to get council housing.
You're better off either not renting at all (thanks to the government for anti-landlord measures) or renting at fair market value to someone that you vet thoroughly from the perspective of affordability.
Also, remember taxes. So, do a full cost comparison before deciding.

Air b n b? Get a local company to help manage this

We did that and we lived to regret it. Couldn't get them out at the end of the three year period and wound up homeless ourselves. It took seven months and the house was trashed. One of the worst, most stressful times of my life and I suspect it would take even longer now.

What age are your kids? If they're secondary school age they may not qualify for resident University fees when you return and you may have to pay overseas fees. If you have an address in this country it's easier to maintain a bank account etc.

People here are so weird. Of course you rent it out, it would almost be financially irresponsible not to as it's one of the perks of the job. We are abroad posted with DH's job right now and of course we rented our place in the UK. It's not the first time either. The only people we know who don't do that are much older, mortgage paid and have no more financial worries.

Do not rent way below market rate - that can create problems with tenants who can't afford to move out, or can't afford to keep the place nice, etc. Do go at the lower end of the market rate to secure someone in quickly. Make it a fixed term, ending 6 months before you move back. It will be fine.

Nope. Even if you rent it for two years if the tenants take a year to get out and costly legal proceedings it won't be worth it and you'll have a damaged house to come home to.

This was my thought. Family members only and still have a contract. It seems that renters are getting more and more rights and landlords are getting less and less.The government seems to make tons of rules that cost landlords money, time and everything else; then complain that there aren't enough houses for people who cannot afford to buy.

We were in a similar position. We let the house to a single woman with one school aged child. Found out she also moved in two adult children, her partner, her partners child (part time) and three dogs - in a three bed house. We gave notice to quit, she barraged us with emails and phone calls and got really nasty. She eventually left and it cost us over twenty thousand pounds to get the place fixed up. Never again. Don’t do it OP, especially now section 21 is being abolished

Why do you want to rent it out at very low cost? Do you want to rent out your house to make money? Or have it occupied? Or help someone with houseI g?
I rented out my house while working abroad
(two years away). No problems, but I removed furniture. Into storage etc.

it equalled an additional income of 50,000 pounds. I am currently renting out house again via estate agent, management as well. One year contracts, and payment up front (there was a bidding war for property and as incentives people offered to pay six months in advance). Went with big estate agent. Still check thoroughly yourself though as I’ve twice had to week out people that the EA said were ok and turned out to have histories of quite easily traceable debt problems (one was bankrupt!). I did not want young families (wear and tear) or pets. Rented to professional people foreigners working in UK who I thought were set to buy or move on.
mid you want house for holidays try renting to academics who will come inly in term term (if you're in a university town) American academics pay well and you won't have to remove property. There are companies specialising in this.

Definitely speak to the council about whether they'd let it for you. My friend did this and when he wanted to sell it (after 5 years) the council found the occupants other accommodation so no issue with trying to evict them.

They also agreed to cover any damage and no risk of void periods.

I'd be more likely to rent with all its problems than leave a house vacant for 3 years with the worry of squatters moving in . At least with vetted tenants it might be easier to get them to leave than squatters that might actually trash the house .
You could always contact your local university that might have staff on a short term contract or do you have family that might be ready to move out on a low rental ?