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Consumer Buy to Let: Mortgages for Accidental Landlords

Last Updated: August 2026

Featured in The Telegraph • Daily Mail • The Times • Sky News

Most people who let out a property did not set out to become a landlord. You moved in with a partner and kept your flat. You inherited a house you do not want to sell. You took a job somewhere else and the place would not sell at a sensible price. If that is you, the mortgage side works differently from a standard buy to let, and it is the one corner of buy to let that is actually regulated by the FCA. It is also the kind of case I deal with regularly, so if you are not sure where you stand, ring me before you do anything.

Letting a home you used to live in, inherited property, let to buy and consent to let cases

37% of landlords bought the property to live in themselves, and 6% inherited it (English Private Landlord Survey 2024)

Consumer buy to let is the FCA regulated corner of buy to let, so the protections are different from investment buy to let

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As featured in…

Harry Goodliffe, director and FCA-authorised mortgage advisor at HTG Mortgages, at his desk

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Harry Goodliffe

  • FCA Authorised
  • Director & Mortgage Advisor

“I‘m not about confusing jargon or passing you from person to person. From our first chat to the day you get the keys, you’ll deal directly with me. I‘ll keep you updated, answer any burning questions, and do everything I can to make the whole process as stress-free as possible.”

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How it works if you did not plan for this

1

Step 1

First Chat

Tell me what has happened and what you want to do. Most of these calls start with someone apologising for not knowing the right words. You do not need them.

2

Step 2

Research

I work out whether you need permission from your existing lender, a proper buy to let mortgage, or a consumer buy to let, and I tell you what each route actually means for you.

3

Step 3

Application

If a new mortgage is the right answer, I handle the application, the lender and the paperwork.

4

Step 4

Completion

Your mortgage offer is issued and my flat £350 fee becomes payable. If no offer is issued, there is no fee.

About

Our approach.

You are not the exception, you are most of the market

It is easy to assume everyone else letting a property is a professional investor with a spreadsheet. They are not. The government’s English Private Landlord Survey 2024 found that 37% of landlords bought the property they let out in order to live in it themselves, and a further 6% inherited it. Forty-five per cent own exactly one rental property, and only 4% describe themselves as running a full time property business. So roughly two in five landlords ended up as landlords by circumstance rather than by plan. Almost all the buy to let advice online is written for the 4%.

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A flat £350 fee, payable only once your mortgage offer is issued

Releasing Equity

If the right answer is to do nothing, I will say so

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Not sure whether you even need to do anything? Call me on 01425 203055 or email info@htgmortgages.com. No charge for working out where you stand.

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How I help

The practical problem is that the person on the other end of a lender’s phone line can only tell you what that lender allows. They cannot tell you whether staying put on a permission to let is better than moving to a proper buy to let mortgage, and they will never mention another lender. That is the gap I fill. I am independent and whole of market across more than 120 lenders, I charge a flat £350 payable only once your mortgage offer is issued, and you deal with me from the first call to completion. If the honest answer is that you should stay where you are and do nothing, I will tell you that too.

Who this is for

People letting out a home they used to live in. People who have inherited a property and want to keep it. Couples moving in together who are keeping one of the two homes. People relocating for work who intend to come back. Anyone who has been told by their lender that they need consent to let and does not know what that means for their next remortgage. If you are buying a property specifically as an investment, that is standard buy to let, and the buy to let hub is the better starting point.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Have another question?

It is a buy to let mortgage where you are not borrowing wholly or predominantly for the purposes of a business. The definition sits in Part 3 of the Mortgage Credit Directive Order 2015. In plain terms, it usually covers people who became landlords by accident rather than by choice. The practical difference is that consumer buy to let is regulated by the FCA, where most investment buy to let is not, so the advice standards and the complaints route are different.

The common ones are letting a property you used to live in, letting a property you inherited, or letting your old home while you move into a new one. It is not simply your choice, and it is not settled by ticking a box. A lender has to look at the substance of what you are doing, and a signed declaration that you are borrowing for business purposes does not settle it if the facts say otherwise. Working out which side of the line you are on is one of the first things I do. If the person living in the property is a close family member paying rent, that is a different regulated product again, covered on my family buy to let page.

Yes. Letting a property that has a residential mortgage on it, without telling the lender, breaches the mortgage terms. It is not a technicality, and it can put your insurance at risk too. Telling them is normally straightforward, and in many cases they will simply grant permission. The mistake is not asking. If you are worried you have already done it, ring me and we will sort out the order of events.

Consent to let is permission from your existing lender to let a property that stays on a residential mortgage. It is a lender by lender arrangement rather than a product, and the terms vary a lot. Some lenders add a percentage to your interest rate for the letting period. Some restrict what else you can do while the property is let, including switching to a new rate, adding borrowing or changing the term, which can leave you stuck on a reversion rate when your fixed rate ends. That last point is the one almost nobody warns people about, and it is why consent to let is sometimes the wrong answer even when it is the easy one. There is more detail in my guide on how a buy to let remortgage works. And if the plan is nightly guests rather than tenants, consent to let rarely covers it; see my Airbnb mortgage guide.

It depends on whether there is a mortgage on it, whether probate has completed, whether it came with tenants already in it, and whether more than one of you inherited it. If you already own your own home, letting an inherited property often falls inside consumer buy to let rather than outside it, which changes which lenders will look at it. If it came with tenants, there are now real limits on how quickly you can get it back, so do not assume you can sell or refurbish on your own timetable. Worth a conversation before you commit to anything. The bigger picture for unplanned landlords, inheritance included, is my accidental landlord guide.

Let to buy is keeping your current home, moving its mortgage onto a buy to let basis, and taking a residential mortgage on the new home you move into. Buy to let is buying a property specifically to rent out. The difference matters because in a let to buy the property being let is one you already live in, which is exactly why these cases so often fall inside consumer buy to let. One thing to be careful of: the higher rate of stamp duty on additional property is only refundable where you sell your previous main residence within 36 months, and in a let to buy you are deliberately not selling it. Several guides online gloss over that.

Yes, and this is the part that has caught people out. The Act came into force on 1 May 2026. Assured shorthold tenancies were abolished and fixed terms are no longer allowed, so you cannot simply agree a twelve month let and expect the property back at the end of it. If you are letting your home temporarily and intend to move back in, the ground for doing that cannot be used until the tenant has been there twelve months, and it needs four months’ notice. Meanwhile your lender’s permission to let runs on its own separate timetable. The two clocks are set by completely different rules and they do not line up. Get the sequencing right before the tenant moves in, not after.

A flat £350 for my advice, payable only once your mortgage offer is issued, and nothing if no offer is issued. Working out where you stand costs nothing. You should also budget for any lender fees, a valuation and legal costs if you do move to a new mortgage, and your accountant is the right person to speak to about the tax on rental income. Here is how a flat fee compares with percentage broker fees, and the buy to let remortgage page if it turns out the arrangement is permanent rather than temporary.


Harry Goodliffe
Written by Harry Goodliffe
Director & Mortgage Adviser, HTG Mortgages  ·  FCA Authorised (1017945)
CeMAP Qualified  ·  Featured in National Press  ·  South England Prestige Awards 2026/27 winner

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