Is it worth being a landlord?

[Onebyone987]

Myself and my fiancé have two properties between us. I’m mortgage free on a modest house due to inheritance and my DP has a mortgage on a three bed (it’s a starter home new build as it’s one double with two tiny box rooms). He’s just moved in with me full time as he’s finally got a job transfer closer to here leaving his place empty.

We’re both pretty much novices as neither of us have ever been landlords before. An mutual acquaintance shared another horror story with us this week of a tenant who’s not paid a penny since they’ve moved in and now going to have to start legal proceedings - he’s going to sell at the end of it (he’s always threatening to sell but never does!) DP has now got cold feet with potentially renting but really doesn’t want to sell. DP knows he’s got to make a decision soon as it sitting empty wasn’t the plan either - getting a lodger would still mean DP is out of pocket and the house isn’t big enough to have two.

We’re getting a prenup before our wedding next year therefore I’m even more keen on DP keeping the property to ensure that in the highly unlikely event of divorce he’s got a safety net.

He’s got 20 years left on his mortgage and pays £550 a month that’s fixed for the next five years. Looking on Rightmove the house could be rented around £850-£1000 a month. DP is worried that he’d have to change his mortgage as he’s not allowed to rent and will loose his good rate. He’s also worried that an agency will take him for a ride as he’s far away/tenants not paying/house getting trashed/we don’t know what we’re doing. DP wasn’t expecting to be able to transfer until next year and while he jumped at the chance for us to live together sooner he’s really in predicament on what to do. My parents aren’t here anymore and most in our social circle aren’t in a position to give us financial advice.

Both of us earn around the national average therefore we shouldn’t be slaughtered by tax but there’s not a bottomless pit of money if we were strewed over by tenants.

Any advice would be welcomed - I’ve found information on what checks would be to be done on the house but nothing on if this makes financial sense/will this end up being a headache?

@SilentHedges There are different mortgage and tax implications for a landlord who has bought to let and one who bought initially as a residence. This thread is asking if it's worth being a landlord. For me, it wasn't particularly worth it financially, but it bought me two years to decide if I wanted to commit to my partner. That's the relevance of accidental landlord, it's nothing to do with value judgements.

I am a LL, but there is no mortgage on the property and I’m close by.

With how shit a lot of agents are I wouldn’t want to be LL at a property far away. You can’t be on hand and the agents know that. I only discovered how shit my first agents were when I bumped into my tenant in the supermarket.

It depends what he’d want to get out of it - massive profit then no it’s not a good idea as that can be wiped out very quickly. If it’s to buy some time and get a bit toward the mortgage in the mean time, then perhaps.

if he does then he really needs to make sure he knows all of his responsibilities because something a lot of people don’t realise is that even if you delegate to an agent the person legally responsible is still you.