HKM
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Hi All,
I am new landlord and this is my 1st BTL.
I have a potential tenant who has recently arrived to UK from Hongkong and obtained 6 months VISA at the border (Leave outside Rule) and in the process of applying BNO (British National Overseas) 5 years visa. This tenant has a wife and 2 kids and he also has a female friend who will be living with them. So I have very specific questions as I want to do everything legally and right.
1) Can I put this family and her friend on the same AST contract or it will be seen as HMO or subletting?
2) Would this arrangement be considered as multiple tenancy which is not allowed under my mortgage terms
3) My mortgage lender condition is to let it for minimum 6 months AST whereas this tenant current visa is lef for around 5 months, can I still sign 6 month or 1 year tenancy with him on the assumption he will get his 5 years BNO visa? Is it OK to sign AST for longer than VISA expiry date?
4) My BTL propety is worth %C2£625K and has undergone %C2£30K refurbishment. To cover my risks I have asked for 1 year rent upfront ( plus 5 weeks deposit) which this tenant is happy to pay. Is it still legal to take 1 year rent upfront and only issue AST agreement until the end date of his current visa which is around 5 months? The reason why I want 1 year rent upfront is because at the moment my house is completely new and if he leaves in 5 months due to being unable to extent VISA then I will have a property which will not be new as no one would like to give a property which has been recently refurbished to someone only for 5 months..This tenant is also in agreement that should his VISA doesn't get extended and he has to leave after his initial AST then he would not get the remainder of the advance rent back which we will keep to cover our risks and costs (finding new tenant, void period, estate agent fees and going through all the hassle again). Please could you confirm this is all OK legally? If I cant take 1 year rent upfront from him then I would not be letting my property to him rather I would look for someone who hasn't got VISA issues and who has stable jobs.
5) This tanent and his wife doesn't have jobs at the moment but have sufficient savings (%C2£250K) which they say came from selling their hongkong house. Their friend hasn't got the job either but has an offer to start the job from MAY 2021 for %C2£50K salary
We have met the family and we liked them. We really want to help them settling down in the UK as UK government itself providing necessary support to people from Hongkong.
At the same time I want to ensure I am doing it all legally and complying with my mortgage lender and insurance company's expectations.
They are currently living in B&B and liked our BTL home and want to move in ASAP (in a week time or so). Kindly suggest how should I progress further and whether everything I mentioned above is all legal.
Kind regards
New Landlord
