Further to my thread 'Letting the house in the UK - Advice please' has anyone gone to Australia and left their house empty, having not wanted to sell or let it out ?

If so has anyone got any advice or does and don'ts ?

Squatters look for exactly these sort of houses. Basically, you have to pay them off to get rid of them.

So if you don't sell you have the option of letting it to some undesirables or leaving it empty and getting it occupied by squatters :scared:

If I do sell then I may not be able to get back on the housing ladder if I return to the UK.

Its not easy emmigrating to Australia , thats what makes it so much fun

You may have trouble getting it insured.

G

I have friends who moved to the States 4 years ago and have kept their house in the UK empty and they have not had problems. However, they have family who still live in the town and they check in on it and turn heating off etc etc.

i think u can leave ur house empty for 3/6 months without ur insurance then becoming a problem...u must inform ur insurance that the property is empty

Insurers usually want to know if the property is going to be empty for more than 3 months. They will increase the premium significantly if this is the case.
If you dont tell them though, and then you make a claim, they could decide to cancel your policy and not pay the claim.

I'd have to agree with the fella who worried about your insurance (though squatters is a daunting aspect)

My fellas sister went to USA 8yrs ago (now does not have property in uk) ... but having family to sort out any potential problems, with (as we had) lists, names, phone numbers etc. are imperative. But I must state it can, at times, take alot of commitment on the referees part (add stress and responsibility to that equation) it isn't always easy when 3 days of your working life is destroyed and lil sis simply says 'thanks bruv'

Doritos

In Australia there are Housesitting agencies who find and screen people to live in houses while the occupants are away. I'm not sure if there are any in the UK but it may be an option to avoid leaving an empty house.

Adrian Flux insured our place for about 20% more than the occupied premium per annum. We've since let it out, though it stood empty for six months while we were trying to sell. Thankfully for us that was during the summer, so no need to worry about cracked pipes or flooding!

I know people who have had stacks of probs leaving empty houses, getting tenants who then sub let etc list of probs encountered are endless. just sell it!