jack492 Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hi, My wife and I recently emigrated but want to buy our first home in the UK in case things don't work out here and we need to come home at some point. Now that the market seems to have reached a low point we would like to finally buy. My question is: do we have to get a buy to let mortgage given that we do not plan to live in it from day 1? I don't understand why we can't just get a regular residential mortgage (at much lower rates) seeing as its our first home? I understand the idea of buy to let mortgages being more expensive if people own several homes but can't understand why we can't just get a residential mortgage. Surely as long as the payments are being made the lender will be happy? Does it have something to do with building insurance? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Hi, in theory if you intend to let a property out, you need to get a buy-to-let mortgage, which may sound a little unfair, being your first property. This is due to the fact that a condition to every residential mortgage states that you can not let the property out. This is due to the property being more at risk from damage etc. Technically if the mortgage lender found out you were letting the property whilst having a residential mortgage, they could demand that you immediately repay the mortgage back to them. This would mean that you would have to re-mortgage, hoping that you could find another lender very quickly. This in practice is not probable, and if you kept up with mortgage repayments it's unlikely this would happen. Some lenders, if asked, give permission to allow a property with a residential mortgage to be let out, then slighty increase the interest rate you repay. However, this is normally after several years of repaying / reducing the debt. So asking permission to let with a residential mortgage as soon as the mortgage begins, doesn't really sound like a viable option. Regarding conditions on mortgages, in the past, I have broken my buy-to-let mortgage condition by letting to dss, but I made sure my insurance covered this, so in my opinion it was a calculated risk, but still a risk. So, the bottom line is, either get a buy-to-let mortage, or take a calculated risk by breaking a mortgage condition of a residential mortgage. However, if you do not currently have a UK address, you may only be able to get a buy-to-let mortgage anyway, you may need to liaise with a mortgage broker. Whatever mortgage you do choose, it is VITAL to make sure you have proper landlord insurance, because should the worst happen, any regular house insurance claim would be void. And if you use a letting agent make sure they are members of ARLA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 So buy and reside ....then negotiate and rent ......or just rent and gamble ...the choice is yours .... The Rodent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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