selling/buying and renting questions

[bathtime]

We are hoping to sell and buy, but worried about how long it could all take. I'm feeling nervous about missing out on school places (there may be places for our DC in sept at a school we'd be happy with).
So, I was wondering if we could let our house out on a short term contract (eg 3 months) and rent in the new area so we could take up a school place etc in September.

Looking on rightmove I think we could let our house out for about £400 per month more than we would need to pay to rent a small house/flat.

Could this work? Has anyone done it before? What are the pitfalls or the things you need to think about?

It is not usual to have so short a letting period but not impossible.I think you would be lucky to find someone who would want to move again in three months. When you come to sell you will probably need a vacant property to do viewings. In theory tenants could do viewings for you but in practice they rarely do.

The standard minimum term is 6 months - Assured Shorthold Tenancy - and if you make it clear up front it is for such a limited period you will only attract restricted interest. It is unlikely you will make much profit in that time but you need to look into costs (£400 sounds a lot but factor in insurances, maintenance, gas and electricity checks plus an agency fee (5-15%) if used )and income tax implications. Also if it remains empty you have costs of Council tax. utilities etc to cover.

Thanks, I knew there would be a lot of issues... I was sort of wondering if there would be (limited) demand for short term rental. We know we'd be out of pocket on the deal, but just wondered if it's worth doing at all. In some ways it might be more straightforward to just shell out for a rented place whilst we sell/buy. But not really sure we could afford it!!
Maybe I'll ask an agent if there's ever a need for very short term stuff. I was thinking that so many people are caught in chains these days, there might be a bit of demand. But my gut instinct is it'll just be too complicated!