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Yes, in most cases you can. There are two routes. You can ask your current lender for consent to let, which is temporary permission to rent your home out while it stays on your residential mortgage. Or you can switch the mortgage itself to a buy to let, usually by remortgaging to a lender that is happy with the property being a rental full time. Which one fits comes down to one question: is this a phase, or is it permanent?
Consent to let or a full switch: which do I need?
Consent to let is built for temporary situations: a work posting, a year abroad, testing the water before you commit. Your lender agrees to the letting, sometimes with a fee or a small rate adjustment, and it is reviewed rather than open ended. I have covered how it works in my guide to renting out your house on a residential mortgage.
A full switch is for when the property has become a rental, full stop. You remortgage onto a buy to let product, the lending is assessed on the rent, and there is no review date hanging over the arrangement. If you know you are not moving back, this is usually the honest shape for it.
The story I see most often
In my own cases, the commonest version is moving in with a partner. One of you moves into the other’s home, or you buy a new place together, and the spare property becomes a rental rather than a sale. The old mortgage was never set up for that, so it switches to a buy to let, and the rent starts working alongside the new household’s plans.
Two routes: consent to let keeps your current mortgage, a full switch remortgages onto a buy to let
Most lenders want around 25% equity in the property before a switch to buy to let works
The rent, not your salary, decides what the buy to let mortgage can be
The commonest version I arrange: moving in with a partner and letting the old place out
Letting your home without your lender’s permission breaches your mortgage conditions
Do I have to tell my lender?
Yes. Letting your home without permission breaches your mortgage conditions. At best the lender finds out and moves you onto their terms; at worst it causes real problems with the mortgage and your insurance at exactly the wrong moment. Telling them first costs nothing and keeps every option open.
How much equity do I need to switch?
Buy to let lending normally tops out around 75% loan to value, so the working assumption is 25% equity in the property. The second test matters just as much: the rent needs to cover the mortgage payment with a margin at the lender’s stress rate. You can sense-check the rent side with my rent calculator before anyone applies for anything.
What does switching actually involve?
It is a remortgage: a valuation, legal work, and a new product. If your current mortgage has an early repayment charge, timing matters, and it is often worth waiting for the charge to end before switching. I check that before recommending anything, because paying a large charge to leave a product early can undo the point of the exercise.
Can I borrow more at the same time to fund my next home?
Often, yes. The switch can include capital raising, releasing some equity from the property to fund the deposit on your next one. Done as one coordinated pair, the buy to let remortgage on the old home and the purchase mortgage on the new one, this is let to buy. I have also written up remortgaging to buy another property more generally. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Speak to an expert
Thinking of letting your home and switching the mortgage? Call me on 01425 203055 or email info@htgmortgages.com. I will run the numbers before you offer.
Can I switch back later?
Usually, yes. If you move back in down the line, the mortgage can be remortgaged back onto a residential product, subject to the usual affordability checks at that point. Nothing about switching to a buy to let locks the property out of being your home again.
What about tax?
Rental income needs declaring, and letting your former home can have capital gains consequences when you eventually sell. That is accountant territory, not mortgage territory, and I would want you to have that conversation alongside the mortgage one, not after it.
Work out your route before you tell the tenant anything
Ten minutes on the numbers tells you whether consent to let or a full switch fits, what the rent needs to be, and whether any equity can come out for the next purchase. Book a call, phone me on 01425 203055, or WhatsApp 07731 675537 and I will look at it with you.
Need Personal Mortgage Advice?
Every buyer’s situation is different. While this guide explains the general rules, the right mortgage for you depends on your income, deposit, credit history and future plans. If you’d like tailored advice, I’m here to help, with whole-of-market coverage.
