Would I be able to rent a house whilst I sell mine, with adequate funds but no job? ��

[Candlestickchic]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows about lettings and can advise? For various reasons I am thinking of moving in a hurry to another part of the country (there are currently two school places available for my DCs, but if I leave it til I've sold up they will probably have gone). My best option would seem to me to be to give my 4 weeks notice at work, and take on a rental property in the new area, whilst putting my house here on the market. I could afford to do this as my mortgage can be interest only and I have a bit of money in the bank and enough maintenance income to keep me going for up to a year while I find a new job and hopefully receive the proceeds from my house sale.
But would a lettings agent allow me to rent somewhere without a job, and with my name still on a mortgage, if I could show evidence of sufficient income? Thanks all.

Short answer is possibly. It sounds like you have a lump sum in the bank and then maintenance payments coming in every month? Normally what you'd need to do is offer six months' rent up front, are you in a position to do that?

Can you pay six months rent upfront? We used to have a general handyman who took a break from his career as a structural engineer because his wife was unwell and he wanted to be around more.

They relocated to be near her family and he paid 12 months rent upfront while his house was on the market and then set up his handyman business. I don't think he had another income - but I suppose he could have done.

No other experience though, not sure that is useful enough!

Slow typing here means I duplicated what tribpot said!

Thank you both, ah I didn't think about offering rent up front, yes I could potentially do that (might have to re-draw a bit of money from my luckily very flexible mortgage)... I suppose I should just ring and ask, but I don't want to get drawn into a long conflab about it with an estate agent before I've made a decision to do it. So thank you for you replies. Yes I get maintenance each month, but the court order isn't signed off finally yet, though I could show bank statements evidencing that it has been paid for last six months I guess.

rent up front for six months is the way forward - you won't pass credit and affordability checks with no income so that's how you get round it. Secure for both you and the landlord for those six months. If your situation is the same after six months, and you want to stay, pay another chunk.

obvious; budget for bills, and read the gov.uk 'how to rent' guide.
less obvious; make damn sure your agent is legit and the property exists, and ask how the money is ring-fenced. The agent will keep it and drip-feed it to the landlord a month at a time.