Leeds_Lass

I'm a posting maniac today!

OH and I are considering, and this is a very much up in the air thought right now, the prospect of buying a property in the UK. We're looking at an angle to have this home to use when we retire, because when I do retire I want to spend some time each year in the UK (and *gasp* so does my OH). We're thinking we could sub let the property when we don't need it.

First of all, is this a crazy unrealistic idea? Do some of you have a second home in the UK? How do you maintain it/upkeep it? I'll leave it at that for now, if/when replies come in I'll post more questions/thoughts. I'd just ramble on making no sense if I did that right now.

Thanking you in advance.

Englishmum

We still have our house in England. We left 12 years ago and it's been rented out virtually the whole time, so we can't use it when we go on visits back home. However, it's in a commuter village outside London and we don't have any connections to the place.

We intend to either retire in England or spend at least a few months each year there (ideally it would be nice to have a little place near the Med too!).

It depends on the type of tenants you would like to have; eg. will you buy to let and expect to have long-term tenants to fund your mortgage? Or would you prefer say, a coastal home or in a beauty spot such as the Cotswolds, the countryside or a tourist city eg. York which would be intended to be for short-term holiday and weekend lets? (This would be much more upkeep if you're having a constant turnover of people coming and going, you would need a cleaning service and a manager to issue keys and return deposits if the property is left in good order).

You can also get tax breaks from the IRS if you have a rental property overseas for maintainance etc. - and even claim for flights so you can do an annual inspection of your UK property! You will need to do some research on this or call your local tax office as I'm no tax expert and leave it all to my husband to sort out LOL!

Leeds_Lass

Englishmum, lots of things you have brought up OH and I need to talk about. We were thinking of buying a property in or around Leeds that we wouldn't need to use until we retired. Not so much a country cottage or seaside place, too pricey, maybe a house in one of the smaller villages or towns surrounding Leeds. We could buy to let so that the property would pay for itself and maybe be almost paid off for when we retire, if we could keep it let/in good condition.

Thanks for the reply, keep them coming, I need your thoughts on this .

Jerseygirl

That's something I'm struggling with at the moment. I went back to the UK in January to look for an apartment in the Chester area so I could spend a few weeks in the UK every 2/3 months. We decided on an apartment as it was more secure and there would be less maintenance than a house. We didn't make a decision because the market seemed to be saturated with apartments that don't appear to be selling. I am still keeping an eye out...apartments coming onto the market now do seem to be more realistically priced. We are also in the process of buying a lakeside apartment in downtown Toronto...we close on 30th March.

Tracym

Ok, I have decided I have to go ahead and look foolish - dh is dear husband right? What is "OH"?

Leeds_Lass

I interpret it as Other Half.

Or Obstinate Husband .

Tracym

Oh I like that one - thank you.

Martin Brown

If you own a home in the UK that's not your main residence then there may be a capital gains tax issues if you ever sell it. Moreover, you have to think about income tax if you rent it out; getting permission from your mortgagees (if you need a mortgage and rent it out); getting permission from the landlord- if it's a flat and also think about the liabilty issues. EG fire and furniture regulations if its furnished, ongoing repairs to the property, whether the tenancy affects your building insurance and what happens when its empty etc. Also chose your managing agent carefully!!! They can handle most things like decorating the property when necessary, eviction of the tenants but it will al be at a cost to you. Most importantly is the problem of having to evict tenants if they don't pay or are problematic. Although UK law makes it easier nowadays than it used to be to obtain vacant possession it is still going to take a few months to get rid of them if they don't pay. Possession is assured but that's still a few months when you have to fund the mortgage payments. Personally, I have concerns about the UK market this year. Things have started off pretty busy but, in my area at least, agents are telling me they can't get property on for love or money. There is also the new home info pack law, supposedly, coming in in June this year and there are concerns in the industry that this is going to have a big negative impact on the market. I haven't got all of the answers but it's certainly not as easy as buying a place, letting it out and sitting back while your retirement fund increases. Get some good legal advice before you do it and make sure you have a decent survey on the property. Also one other thing make sure that the managing agent you use is a member of a professional association (ARLA, usually). I have seen a couple of instances locally where the agent has done a bunk with the deposits. The problem is you employ the agent to work for you so you may find you have to refund the deposit. At leaset with ARLA members or other such professional bodies they will insist the agent retains a separate client account with no commingling of funds.