House/mortgage rates - help me get head round this ?

[RosaKim]

We own a house in the U.K., mortgage fixed until feb 2027 at 1.29%. It’s rented out as we moved overseas we have consent and have had it for a few years. The rent we receive covers mortgage which we overpay, and more. We currently rent overseas at an ok level of rent. We may have to move as landlord might want house back.

We can’t decide whether to carry on renting here or sell U.K. house and buy here, bearing in mind:

• mortgage rates here similar to to uk so we’ll be paying a lot more per week
• we have a great mortgage rate now
• Rents have gone up here so we’ll be paying more anyway if we rent somewhere else
• capital gains tax will be owed if we sell uk house but that’ll only go up over time
• Penalty for selling house before rate ends

finding it hard to weigh it all up and wondering if there’s an obvious answer that we are too thick to see?

I mean, that sounds like a great fix, for a long time.
If you've been happily renting, without issues - and, if I've read it right, presumably the same tenants? - then I'd stick with what you've got.

Whether you have to move or not where you are living will happen anyway, so you wouldn't be saving that hassle.

How long are you likely to be working abroad for?
At what point do you envisage coming back to the UK ?

Thanks @UsingChangeofName we are here for the long term I think. We’ve bounced around a bit. I just can’t visualise the figures in
my head - I guess it’s a lot of interest saved?

What's the remaining balance of your mortgage?

£220k left - house worth £637,000 according to HPI (for context)

How long haven’t you lived in property if you ever did and how long did you? If you did

Bought it and moved in Jan 2020 moved out dec 2020 (I know, I know).

What is the CGT figure now on the UK property? What is the housing market like in the country you are now living in?

We think roughly 10k cgt if we sold now

houses v expensive here but will hold value as expensive area.

If rents are increasing where you are, your landlord will want to see an increase in income too, but maybe you can negotiate a good deal with them for say 3 years at a fixed increase each year which is better for them but also less than the open market rate for you.

As regards the UK house, you have 3+ years to pay off as much as possible so that the remaining mortgage is less and then make the decision whether to move back or not. The CGT is unlikely to increase substantially in that time. If you move back and live in the house, your CGT liability will reduce after a period of time, I’m not sure what that is.

That’s assuming you’re equally happy to live in either place.