UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello,

Just wanted to put the idea out there as I'm not sure if I'm thinking of a madcap plan in desperation or if it could be feasible. Basically, 8 years ago I moved out of my house which I own outright, and moved in with my partner. Our relationship has ended now and I once again need my own place. I've had the same lovely tenant for 8 years, who is really settled and happy in my house and I feel guilty for even thinking of asking them to leave. In addition, I'm not sure I'd like to live there again anyway and I'd probably sell it and buy elsewhere. I had thought about using the savings I have and the rental income, plus employment income to mortgage another property, but it's not enough.
So, I wondered about seeing if my tenant wanted a part share in the house which could give me enough money to get a mortgage and have reasonable monthly payments. 

Would this mean everyone happy i.e. they get to stay in the house they like and I get to live where I want to, or would it just mean a horrible, complicated mess? (on top of the horrible, complicated mess on leaving a relationship....)

Would it make everyone happy?

Would it really?

Rather philosophical for a Sunday morning.

Why not sell it all to your Tenant and a knock-down rate and then become their live-in lodger... seems a good existence, right? Who wouldn't be happy with that. It'd almost be like being a pet. Yes... chuckles aside... the idea is a bonkers one and you are obviously grasping... but that's OK - stressful times... the last thing you need is to extricate yourself from one situation and get into another... play your own game, that's the winning game.

It sounds like a plan that could open up a whole new world of pain for all concerned.If your tenant was in a position to buy,they presumably would not still be renting for 8 years.It is in any case not a good idea to make longterm plans while still in the grief process.You might even get back together,it does happen.Keep your options open for now.You mention your tenant is "lovely"-just saying......

Thanks to you both for taking the time to reply, and not just writing me off as a crazy person (well ok, maybe you still did but at least you replied...)
The idea came about as whilst looking at properties for rent I saw some that were part buy part let and so I wondered if it was more commonplace than I thought. But you are both right, there is no point jumping out of the frying pan into the fire....
So thanks again, will try to keep calm and not make any rash decisions!
Heavykarma- I'm not 100% sure what you imply at the end there!! They are lovely because they pay the rent on time and look after the house- I definitely don't have some weird landlord-tenant crush going on....

Have you considered selling to another landlord? You wouldn't get as much as with an open market sale but if there's someone locally looking to take advantage of the stamp duty window without the hassle of prepping a new property, it could be a relatively straightforward sale and your tenant needn't go anywhere.

Alternatively, how about a small mortgage on the rental property? In terms of cash flow, the effect would be the same as part-selling to your tenant, i.e. you get a lump of cash in return for a drop in net rental income. Obviously, prospective lenders for the residential mortgage would take that into account but the fact that it's a separate mortgage on a separate property could mean a bit more room for manoeuvre on the affordability criteria.