Is it difficult to rent out a property?

[Plantsandwine]

A few months ago we moved house and now live in a 4 bedrook detached house. We have a 33 year mortgage. However, we have recently thought about moving to singapore for two years in around two years time (only if we can find suitable jobs with good packages).
We were thinking about renting out our house so tenants would effectively be paying off the mortgage. How easy and realistic is this? I have read around and think we would need to get a buy to let mortgage instead which might be more expensive. Has anyone done it and it has all gone smoothly? Thank you for any help or advice.

@Netaporter

Consider the energy rating of the property first. It needs to be an E or above unless exempt. After the conversation with your mortgage co Start there, then gas and electricity Certs. Remember you now pay tax on the whole rental income even if you have a mortgage. This may be a deal breaker if your LTV is high and then you need to pay management charges on top. You also need to consider that rarely is a property 100% utilised. You will have periods where it could be unoccupied and you’ll incur costs nevertheless. Best of luck.

The house is 6 years old, so not 100% sure but guessing it has a much higher energy rating (would need to check the paperwork). I didn't realise that we would have to pay tax on top of that, thank you for that information. We have around 15,000 in savings. But if we do move to Singapore we will only be doing so if we get healthcare, schooling and accommodation included, so we would have enough money to cover the mortgage if needed (I think).

@sst1234

You could ask your lender for consent to let, however you are unlikely to get it if the mortgage was only taken out a few months ago. 4 bed detached would have a smaller market than a 3 bed semi however if it is priced correctly, anything will sell or let. The main thing is who is going to manage the let, take care of repairs, you will need to let HMRC know.

We have been with our mortgage company for 3 years so far (we got a 5 year fixed) but ported our mortgage over when we moved house in April. I am not sure if that would make a difference. But by the time we do move our mortgage may need renewing anyway.

We did exactly this- moved to Singapore for 3 years and rented out our house. We had it fully managed by an agent it was all fine. PM if you want advice

@Plantsandwine what lender is it?

[quote alwayswrighty]@Plantsandwine what lender is it?[/quote]
Atom, a relatively small company, which is why I have reservations about them allowing us to rent with the same mortgage

According to their criteria they do allow consent to let (I work in a wom mtg brokers so pulled it from their criteria). Should add not guaranteed though.

@alwayswrighty

According to their criteria they do allow consent to let (I work in a wom mtg brokers so pulled it from their criteria). Should add not guaranteed though.

Ahh that's great, thank you for letting me know!!