RAS Scheme - Landlords have you taken your property back?

Fiona

Hi there

I have a 1 bed apt in Ashbourne rented out on the RAS scheme for the last 4 years.

Blessed with a fantastic tenant but my living situation is not suiting me anymore and it's actually cheaper to live in my own home than rent on my own so I have plans to take the property back next year.

Just wondering has anybody been in this situation before I approach the CoCo for some info.

As far as I can make out I have some form of rolling contract with them I can't find any end date on the contract.

the_syco

Any idea how long your lease was?

Michael D Not Higgins

the_syco wrote: »

Any idea how long your lease was?

From that link

"Local authorities will enter into lease arrangements with property owners for periods of between 10 – 20 years"

"Rent free period / break options and rent reviews may form part of the lease negotiations."

Were there any break options in the lease?

Fiona

From what I remember it was to initially be a 5 year tenancy agreement, that’s what Meath CoCo were offering at the time.
My first tenant broke his lease after 2 years and he was replaced immediately.

When I got the new contract there was no end date on it, I do have a friend who is a solicitor I can get them to read over it for me. I am just so reluctant to go to the council until I am closer to actually being ready to move which I don’t see happening for another 5/6 months minimum.

Just wanted to know if anybody else was in this situation.

anonyanony

Fiona wrote: »

From what I remember it was to initially be a 5 year tenancy agreement, that’s what Meath CoCo were offering at the time.
My first tenant broke his lease after 2 years and he was replaced immediately.

When I got the new contract there was no end date on it, I do have a friend who is a solicitor I can get them to read over it for me. I am just so reluctant to go to the council until I am closer to actually being ready to move which I don’t see happening for another 5/6 months minimum.

Just wanted to know if anybody else was in this situation.

If I was you I would start asap, even if the council end the tenancy the person might overhold and can take months to evict an overholder, only wait if you have someplace to go in 6 months if they decide to overhold and you cannot get back into your apartment.

You have to give standard notice anyway which will be a few months probably 56 days depending on the exact amount of time they have been there so starting now wouldn't hurt

foggy_lad

The earlier you tell the council the longer they will have to find alternative housing for your current tenant/the longer your tenant will have to find accommodation which is willing to go on the scheme.

AFAIK all the schemes have a break clause for if the owner wants to move in themselves or sell the property as long as the proper notice is given.

Your end date could be the original date for the first tenancy or it could be five years from commencement of the 2nd tenancy, It depends on whether the council have been looking at it as them leasing from you or them leasing to the tenants for "5 years".

Fiona

Thanks never thought about whether or not I would have problems with the tenant leaving.

He has been so good to me I do feel really guilty about it in all honesty but I am currently living with my mother, it's a less than ideal situation and I can't afford to rent somewhere on my own the prices are way out of each compared to what my mortgage is.

I would be aiming to give at least 3 months notice as I think that's a reasonable amount of notice given the current housing situation?

I suppose I better bite the bullet and signal my intention now even though I won't be able to move in for at least 6 months and find out the legalities of it.

Fiona

Your thoughts on something

When I started renting out my apartment on the ras scheme I said nothing to my mortgage provider and I just stopped claiming my mortgage relief as I had a tracker and I couldn’t afford to loose it as I knew I would eventually be moving back into my apartment.

Should I keep my trap shut and just move back in and not start claiming the relief again even though technical there may be some owed to me to not raise any issues with my mortgage company?

I know it was not very honest of me to keep the tracker while the property was rented out but I did own it for the 3 years previous so it was not a buy to let property it was my home and I didn't make a penny from the rental either it has cost me money every year.

Michael D Not Higgins

I'm not aware of the full rules but as far as I've heard, you must notify your bank as this is not you PPR anymore. They would then have transferred you off a tracker to another rate.

I can imagine coming off TRS doesn't raise as many red flags as applying for it again (but why it didn't raise any questions is strange). For now, you have 'gotten away with it'. Applying again may raise some questions you don't want to answer.

For the record I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Personally I don't agree with what you've done.

Fiona

Yes I don't agree with what I done either but I choose to be slighty economical with the truth to still have some security for when my situation became good again.

Like I said it wasn't a buy to let property when I bought it, it was my home. I never planned for this to happen (like a lot of people)

I pay all my taxes on rental income, nppr charge (which a lot of people never paid!), mgt fees, have a tax clearence cert, registered with prtb etc so everything else was done by the book so I am not going to beat myself up over it.

If I was making a ton of profit then yes it would morally be wrong but it doesn't, quite the opposite.

anonyanony

Fiona wrote: »

Yes I don't agree with what I done either but I choose to be slighty economical with the truth to still have some security for when my situation became good again.

Like I said it wasn't a buy to let property when I bought it, it was my home. I never planned for this to happen (like a lot of people)

I pay all my taxes on rental income, nppr charge (which a lot of people never paid!), mgt fees, have a tax clearence cert, registered with prtb etc so everything else was done by the book so I am not going to beat myself up over it.

If I was making a ton of profit then yes it would morally be wrong but it doesn't, quite the opposite.

The banks kinda had don't tells keep paying your tracker and it's ok thing going on for a while, with houses coming out of neg equity that might change.

Not sure how trs works but do you not apply to the gov to get it back and the bank just manage it, the bank don't ask questions on it?

Fiona

anonyanony wrote: »

Not sure how trs works but do you not apply to the gov to get it back and the bank just manage it, the bank don't ask questions on it?

I think so I might ask my accountant for some advice but I think in the grand scheme of things I should just say nothing and do without it to be safe.

anonyanony

Fiona wrote: »

I think so I might ask my accountant for some advice but I think in the grand scheme of things I should just say nothing and do without it to be safe.

If the government tell them to put it back they can't question I would think, there is other reason to stop trs and put it back other then renting the house, it's up to you to chance it or not but every little penny can count

The Spider

Fiona wrote: »

Yes I don't agree with what I done either but I choose to be slighty economical with the truth to still have some security for when my situation became good again.

Like I said it wasn't a buy to let property when I bought it, it was my home. I never planned for this to happen (like a lot of people)

I pay all my taxes on rental income, nppr charge (which a lot of people never paid!), mgt fees, have a tax clearence cert, registered with prtb etc so everything else was done by the book so I am not going to beat myself up over it.

If I was making a ton of profit then yes it would morally be wrong but it doesn't, quite the opposite.

Check you're contract with the bank, if it doesn't say anything in the contract about losing your tracker if it's no longer your primary residence then that's what I would go with, some banks were a bit shoddy on the terms back in the day, but that's not your problem, the contract is the only thing that matters as that's what you agreed, irregardless of bank policy.