Consent to let

If you’re thinking of renting out your home temporarily and you have a mortgage with us, call us first on 0800 121 8899 because we need to agree to it.

We know things can change and we’ll do our best to help – so we can usually set up a ‘Consent to Let’ agreement if you want to rent out your home for a year or less.

A Consent to Let mortgage allows you to rent out your home for a limited amount of time.

If you rent out your home without our agreement, you'll break the terms and conditions of your mortgage and your insurance policies may not be valid.

Please note: that if you have a Consent to Let mortgage, it is your responsibility to ensure that your property meets the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES). For more information go to the Government website.

Tax Implications

You will need to pay tax on any profit you make from renting out your property.

You can find out more information about paying tax on your rental income here: Work out your rental income when you let property - GOV.UK

Renting your property out for longer than a year?

If you're thinking of renting your property out for longer than a year, then you’ll probably need to change to a Buy to Let mortgage and you can see our latest products here.

Call us on 0800 121 8899 and talk it over with one of our advisors – they’ll assess your situation and let you know if a Buy to Let mortgage might suit you better.

Do you need a licence to rent out the property?

In areas where there is low housing demand or high levels of anti-social behaviour, you may need a licence to privately rent out your property. The licence could cost you around £500 a year.

The Local Authority introduced this scheme to improve conditions and tenancy practices in the private rented sector, and to ensure a positive impact is sustained in these areas.

To find out if your area is affected and for more information please visit www.nrla.org.uk.

Before your tenants move in

Take up references from previous landlords and current employers. If you’re using a letting agent to find your tenant, they should do this for you.
Take and hold a deposit (usually equivalent to one month’s rent). You’re legally obliged to protect this with a Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDP).

There are two types of deposit scheme:

Custodial - a free scheme where the deposit is held in a bank account and returned at the end of the tenancy, such as the Deposit Protection Service: www.depositprotection.com
Insurance - you or your letting agent holds the deposit and pays a fee to insure it.

You must return the deposit to your tenant no later than 10 days after they’ve moved out, unless you’ve got a valid reason to keep all or part of it.

Tenancy agreement

For every tenancy, you’ll need a tenancy agreement. This is a legally binding contract between you and your tenant. The most common forms of tenancy agreement are Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England, Occupation Contracts (OC) standard-contract in Wales, Private Tenancies in Northern Ireland and Private Residential Tenancies in Scotland. Most landlords offer a minimum contract of six months.

Both you (as landlord) and your tenant must sign the agreement. The ‘private renting’ pages at www.gov.uk/private-renting have more information.

For Occupation Contracts in Wales you'll be required to issue a ‘written statement’ of the occupation contract to all contract-holders (tenants). The written statement must contain all the terms of the contract. The written statement must be issued within 14 days of occupation under the contract. The written statement can be issued in hardcopy or, if the contract-holder agrees, electronically.

The tenancy agreement covers:

Length of tenancy and the date it started
Details of tenants, landlord and all other parties involved
Deposit amount and how you’ll protect it
Monthly rental amount, when it’s due and how it must be paid
Notice periods for both you and tenants
Landlord’s and tenants’ obligations during the tenancy

Landlords’ insurance

Under the terms of the mortgage, you must have buildings insurance in place at all times throughout the life of the mortgage – this covers structural damage and the cost of rebuilding your property if necessary. You can also take out insurance that covers you for tenants failing to pay their rent, as well as:

Legal cover – for potential disputes
Landlord liability – to protect you from compensation claims
Landlord contents insurance – to protect fixtures, fittings and furniture if property is furnished
Accidental damage cover – or glass and sanitary ware, ceramic hobs and underground pipes
Glass and lock replacement
Boiler cover
Emergency cover – to insure you against call-outs for certain items, such as broken central heating, gas/electricity or burst pipes or drainage problems
Public liability cover – in case a claim is made against you

After your tenants move in

Your responsibilities

You must treat your tenants/contract holders fairly and equally, and maintain the property to comply with recommended safety standards.

If your property is leasehold, you’ll need to make sure the ground rent is paid, and comply with reasonable requests from the freeholder or managing agent.

It will always be your responsibility to meet the costs of the mortgage. Your property may be repossessed if you don’t keep up repayments, and we may appoint a receiver of rent. Any shortfall after the property is sold would remain your responsibility.

The following Acts give you more information about your obligations as a landlord.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (England and Wales) Act 2018

Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016

Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Act 2021

Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

The Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

If your tenants fall into arrears

If the worst happens and your tenants/contract holders can’t or won’t pay their rent, it could take months to resolve via your letting agent or the legal system.

There are strict legal guidelines you have to follow if you want to remove tenants from the property. For guidance, visit www.gov.uk/private-renting-evictions.

Ending a tenancy agreement

Whether the tenancy agreement comes to an end, or you want to take back possession of your property, you must give your tenants at least two months' notice to leave.

If they refuse to leave, you’ll need to start a legal process of eviction through the courts. You can’t evict them yourself and you can’t legally remove a tenant from the property without an eviction order.

If you have any queries about a dispute, take legal advice as quickly as possible.

For Occupation Contracts in Wales different legal provisions apply to ending the agreement:

Where the contract-holder has breached the occupation contract the minimum notice period that must be given is one month. This notice period can be shorter where it relates to a breach of the anti-social behaviour or the serious rent arrears terms. Where a ‘no fault’ notice is issued, the minimum notice period that must be given is six months and a landlord cannot give such a 'no fault' notice until 6 months after the contract starts.

In addition, a landlord will not be able to give such a notice unless they have complied with certain obligations, including registration and licensing with Rent Smart Wales and deposit protection rules.

Landlord break clauses will only be able to be incorporated into a fixed term occupation contract if the contract has a fixed term of 2 years or more. A landlord will not be able to exercise a break clause within the first 18 months of occupation.