Renting out property when moving abroad

iaaeps

Hi,

I'm planning to move to the UK with my partner soon, I expect on a permanent basis.

We have a property in Dublin we intend to keep and rent out (with someone else managing it for us) when we leave. My question is, are there any issues with doing this we need to think about?

Our mortgage is one we got intending to live in the place, is there any issue with the place being rented out? It doesn't mention it in the mortgage docs from what I can see, but we're going to want to change the address various stuff gets sent to and I'd like to be prepared before bringing it up with the bank so I have an idea where I stand.

For other bank accounts etc, do we need to change our address to our new UK address, or can we just use our parents' address in Ireland?

Thanks for any advice!

Emma2019

20% of the rent paid to non resident landlords needs to be withheld and paid to revenue unless you appoint an agent to collect the rent.

You will be liable to income tax on the rental income. If you permanently move to the UK, the UK could potentially want to tax it too but depends on the tax treaty, theres credits available to offset double tax, and the issue is a few years down the line in terms of your residency.

Your house insurance is different if you're renting and not living here.

C3PO

Unless you have a really good reason to keep the house, I would sell! You will get a great price in the current market and have none of the worries of letting it!

Xterminator

hi op

with all these things its risk vs reward. expected return vs potential costs.

the risk is obvious, a tenant could wreck your house and/or refuse to pay rent. That's why independent/accidental landlords are leaving the sector. there's virtually no protection for you. the managing agency cannot evict non paying tenants,

the reward is minus 20% tax, as your non resident + managing fees + plus insurance. will that cover your mortgage?

i think you could look at installing a friend or family member in your property, which should reduce the risk vs a stranger. you should also consider selling and what equity you have in the place now.

3DataModem

To answer your question (I have done exactly what you describe):

• Don't bother telling the bank about the change in purpose. There's no upside for doing it, no downside for not doing it.
• Give the bank your mailing address in the UK. They won't care it is not the same as the property address... just say "My new address for correspondence is XXX." Could be your accountant, your ex-wife, your solicitor, whatever. They don't really care, they just want to be able to write to you.
• Make sure you get proper insurance on the place. Landlords insurance is a thing. Make sure if the place is empty for any length of time it is checked up on. This keeps the insurance valid. Yes, you can have a UK mailing address for these guys too... :)
• Keep paying your LPT.
• For all that is good and holy... use a good agent to manage the rental. Use a full service agent, preferably a smaller local one who will actually do viewings and has an array of tradesmen in the case of any issues. The tenant should NOT have your phone number or other contact details.
• Pay your taxes. You'll probably not have to pay anything to the UK as Irish tax is generally higher.

SnowWhale78

Hi OP,

I am doing similar at present.

I appointed an agent to let and manage the property for me. They also act as collection agent for the Tax which is handy and means its sorted before I get my share. I just do a Tax return each year through ROS online.

I changed my House Insurance to Landlord Insurance. I just rang my Insurer and they switched it over handy enough there wasn't much extra of a premium for me.

In regards correspondence etc I have changed all mine to paperless where possible. This means I get emailed instead of paper letters. However not all organizations have that option.

Hope this helps

I'd sell it. It sounds like too much hassle to rent.

redarmyblues

Sell.

listermint

Unless you've a real solid reason to move to the UK I wouldn't. The place is a basket case. I know we've housing and some inflation issues here. But it's gone off the rails there. Between rates, food prices, inflation, growth and downgrade in quality of life costs per the central Bank there. You'd want to think a harder about the direction of travel. The tories are going to raid peoples taxes to pay for loses and the economy is simply not growing enough to make up the deficit.

Think real hard.

jood22

We did similar 5years ago. We moved abroad for a 5 year contract and recently moved back to Ireland.

. yes to tax implications. Keep everything above board and pay what’s necessary. We had an accountant looking after that side of things.

In America we also had to pay a tax on our property in Ireland. I’m not sure what the deal is in the UK.

Get a good letting agent. Our one wasn’t great tbh. Any time we got complaints from neighbors she tried to minimize it when, for the most part, they were correct to contact us.

Neighbours - how well do you know them? How likely are they to annoy you over small things, or wait until big happens to contact you?

Tenants - ours pretty much wrecked our house. I was devastated as it was our family home. We got virtually nothing back from deposit to cover repairs ( destroyed furniture, wrecked marble mantle piece and badly damaged kitchen cupboards) which went beyond wear and tear . They also wrecked the garden. We had decided to sell anyway and I’m glad we did as I would have been very upset moving back to our family home which had been so badly looked after.

We did not stay with our original letting agent much to her annoyance.

I would be minded to sell as if you decide to sell in say, 5 years and you sell for a good bit more that what you paid day one you will have to pay revenue tax on the difference. How much you pay is a sliding scale of how long it’s been your principal primary residence and his long you’ve been renting.