Owner Occupier - emigrated

malkmoose

Registered User
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I own a house in Dublin and got an owner occupier mortgage as it was my primary residence. Since then I have left Ireland for work reasons and I am currently renting out the property.

1. Do I have to declare this to the bank? I lived there for about the first 5 years
2. If I want to remortgage to release some funds, will I have to change to a Investment Property mortgage?

I will eventually move back to Ireland with my family so it will be my primary residence again, is this a consideration when getting a mortgage? Reason being I want an owner occupier mortgage with lower rates.....
 
It is more important that you notify the insurance company that the property is let.

Most lenders don't worry about this especially for people who are temporarily abroad who are paying their mortgage in full.

I doubt you will be able to remortgage while living abroad. In fact, don't even bother trying.

If you need funds and if you don't have a tracker mortgage, then sell the property.

Brendan
 
Thanks for the feedback

Yes, I have updated my insurance policy and am registered as a HAP landlord passing through the checks by the local authority.

I have a call set up with the bank for a mortgage top-up, I will take the call have the conversation at least. I'll let you know if you are correct about not being able to do this from abroad
 
I have a call set up with the bank for a mortgage top-up, I will take the call have the conversation at least. I'll let you know if you are correct about not being able to do this from abroad
I'm not sure this is a good idea. Banks generally asr happy as long as mortgage is being paid but revealing that you are no longer an OO might trigger them to up the rate. The problem with a remortgage is that you will need to probably prove you live in it by producing bills.
 
My experience with BoI a few years ago was that they would not give top-up funds except for renovations. There is a request for plans, work progress reports, valuation reports, etc.


They will not care that you are abroad once you keep paying your mortgage. You can even change the correspondence address to your address abroad. However if you ring them up and voluntarily advise them that the house is now let they seek to charge you a BTL rate.


Also bear in mind that you may be generating a CGT liability now that the property is let.
 
Yes this is a good point, however, for me the difference between Owner Occupier rate and Investment Property rate is negligible as I only have 20K remaining on the mortgage. I calculated the increase to be around €3 per month to change rates.

First I want to see what my options are and then I will assess if they are good or bad ideas. I will take all of the comments here into account so thank you but first I want to research my options.
 
Hi malkmoose

Then there is no risk in telling the lender.

You won't get a remortgage from a mainstream bank.

But you might get one from Finance Ireland or ICS.

Brendan
 
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