Has anyone 'let to buy'?

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DH and I have just realised that we could rent out our London flat if we can increase our mortgage on it (currently 70k) and use the money to buy a small house in the country to live in instead which the rental income should mostly cover?
We'll ask our bank tomorrow whether this is possible but it would seem that potential rental income from our flat (should be over 2k/month in our area) could help pay the bigger mortgage. Our income is erratic at the moment so I hadn't dreamt of being able to move until this brainwave and hope our dream won't be shattered or does this sound do-able?

Yes, it is doable but I would suggest an independent mortgage advisor rather than straight to the bank.

Ok thanks; we were going to try Halifax as our mortgage is there but we'll try and see someone independent and thanks for the advice.
Feels too good to be true as have been feeling a bit trapped and our DC would love more space to move around

Keep in mind you will need to leave 25% equity in what will become the buy to let. Will that give you enough of a deposit/income coming in to enable you to buy the house you want?

Yes we did this. We let out our flat in London and the rent pays the mortgage on it and our house in the north west. We were able to move from a small flat to a large 5 bed house in a lovely area. It's great! Plus the London flat is rising in value steadily so it off sets the stagnant market where we are now. Definitely shop around for mortgage deals, although we stuck with the same mortgage on our at, they just increased the rate by 1%. But we didn't need to swop to an actual buy to let mortgage. Our mortgage rate plus 1% was better than a BtL rate.

Good luck!

This is so uplifting! Thank you for our encouraging replies- I really can't believe we might have a house in reach rather than a small flat.

Leaving 25% equity should be ok, useful to know that's what we need to do. We'll go through the maths properly tomorrow but our flat has apparently increased in value by 150k in a year which is amazing as we've struggled and it took us 10 years to buy.
It's amazing what we could afford outside London for say 400k and I'm getting carried away by the idea of these lovely houses so thrilled to have your affirmation not an impossible dream

Yes have done this. I second those that say, seek independant advise. I would do this before even contacting your current lender.
Also the rent you will get will need to be 120% of the mortgage.