bevissa65

Hi all, hope there is someone here who can give us some advice We are waiting for ITA to be assessed and hope to be in NZ August. We are leaving our house here, hopefully with my OH's son and a couple of mates to rent However he is finding it hard to find a couple of mates who want to move in with him so we are thinking we might have to go through an agency and let them deal with it. Has anyone else done that and is it working ok? How difficult is it to sort out when you are the other side of the world! Thanks, Bevissa xx

Wiz'n'Ton

Hi there. Unless you have a really strong network of friends who you trust who have trades to deal with any issues at the property (sparky, plumber, builder etc), along with some family to do regular inspections and chase up rents etc, then I would definately leave it to an agent.

We rented ours for 6 months with an agent, and they had to deal with replacing a fence, and the kitchen ceiling falling down (!) so we were very relieved to have them on call to sort these issues out. As it's their job, you are not relying on favours and the like from people who are 12000 miles away.

If you are outside of the UK, you can apply for 'non-resident landord status' which means you don't pay tax on your rental income (though you will need to make an income tax for each tax year the rental falls in).

Ours ran relatively smoothly, and I would reccommend it, as the last thing you need when you are trying to deal with the stress of moving to NZ, is additional stress from the UK.

Good luck with it, and if you have any questions ask away.

lapsed kiwi

We rent out our UK house and I'd agree that having a good agent is essential. Beware though they can be very good at spending your money, eg calling out a plumber for a leaky washer. We now have a local agent who does simple jobs himself.

The other warning is to think very carefully about what you will do when you have tenant-less periods. We had an initial period of five months, and have since had a couple of shorter periods. Make sure you won't have to send money from NZ to UK to cover the mortgage

Other than that, it's probably not a bad way to let you move to NZ in the current dire housing market, when only the desperate seem to be selling, at very low prices

Wellington Will

We're renting out our house in Devon, and have done this many times before on trips to NZ.

Getting an agent is important and easy. Finding a good one is difficult as you only know if they are good or bad after reviewing the property in a year or twos time.

However, the difference between a good one and a bad one is a marginal cost, meaning a good one will cost you £x and a bad one will cost you £x+30% say.

As long as they can get you tennants, that really is the main thing, and you must budget for a complete redecoration and some appliances when you take back possession in a few years, or once every few years (five say) if you keep it rented.

Each rental will deteriorate the house a bit, it can't be helped, and even good agents let many things go - like picture holes in the wall, or telephone wires stapled to skirting boards or blown lights, or blocked guttering etc.

I try not to get annoyed with it when another workman has plumbed crap fittings in the toilet and nailed them to the wall in a shoddy job, and the agent says nothing.

Just as long as the rent comes in, I can stay in NZ.

adamlt1972

There are a few things you need to be aware of;
1) Using an agent is a much better approach, but you should be aware they won't have the same standards that you do in terms of the condition of the house. You should however ensure that they inspect the properties regularly and get reports (I had two different agents, both of whom promised to, but never inspected the property), so you know the house is being looked after. They will charge you a fee for every months rent collected, and every tenant they place.
2) You should inform your mortgage lender that you're letting the property, and dependent on their approach they may charge you a fee, or potentially increase you interest rate to permit you to do so.
3) You will be taxed on anything deemed as "profit" on the rental. The secret in this case is to make sure that you show a "loss" on the property, or at least limit your "profit" if possible. You can count the interest on the mortgage as an expense, plus any agents fees, and 10% (I think) of the rent as "wear and tear". Other expenses like maintenance etc should also be written off.

Don't let the above put you off though, I think the fact that you can hold onto the property for a while may be a good idea. Given the low mortgage rates at the moment then it should be financially viable, and it will allow you to sell the property in a few years when the market picks up again. You'll also have something to fall back on if the big move doesn't work out.

weejie

We had to register with our local council as landlords(£66);change house insurance to landlords insurance ( more expensive);get a smoke detector which is mains operated fitted( BIL electrician so no cost);get a gas safety report(£45) and an energy efficiency report(£100);inform mortgage lender who charged £100 to give permission. Went with an agent, who will charge 10% of rental each month as fees. Also had to fill in P85 and NRL1 forms ( go on to HMRC website and download them). If you leave it unfurnished and no tenant in then can claim 6 months free council tax. If furnished then 50% off. Need to leave 3 sets of keys with agent (only had 2 so needed to get more cut so more £). Think that's it if I remember more will add to it.

Phyl x

formula

Blocked guttering is the landlords responsibility.

It doesn't even matter what you put in a contract as you can't take aware the tenants legal rights in a contract.

Wellington Will

Er.. not really... if you are paying an agent to look after the house and you are abroad they are paid to look after general maintenance.

It's also the tenants responsibility to point these things out to the agent regardless of who actually pays for them them.

minky

We are on our third year of renting our uk house we arrived here in 2006 only to find out the house had been burgled whilst the tenants were in it! We had lived there ten years with no problems.Again we had a good agent that sorted everything out we have had only one family move in since so good.You can opt for rental protection which works out about 2.7% but we have not had more than 4 weeks between tenants.It is easier to have a agent as it is less emotional but also we have family in the area who drive by just to check outside apperances.You also on average have to put in 200 gbp to cover remedials and pays to have a float for replacement items should they be unrepairable. We are kept in contact regulary by emailso its quite painless.

Karen

bevissa65

Thanks everyone for your replies. It sounds more of a mine field than I hoped We were kind of hoping to keep it in the family and save all the hassle but it doesn't look like its going to work out like that. We will have to write down everything and sort it out properly (more work) Bevissa