Relocation Guide to Moving Abroad

Expert advice for homeowners looking to migrate to a new country overseas.

Emigrating to a new country or relocating to another part of the UK is both exciting, and scary, with the prospect of brand new experiences and challenges. Often the biggest worry of moving to a new locations is the prospect of a not achieving a quick house sale, thus affecting your plans, delaying them or even putting them on hold.

Property Cash Buyers understand that achieving a quick house sale to relocate, or emigrate abroad, is very important to our property sellers. As one of the UK‘s largest property buyers we can help you in several ways achieve the best price for a quick property sale.

Our ‘Sell House Fast’ service, is working for property sellers throughout the UK, it will assist you in a quick property sale. Make sure you also read our article on removal companies.

Situations a quick sale via our Sell House Fast service can help:

• If you want to more abroad for a new job
• If you want to retire abroad
• If you don’t want the hassle of renting out your property
• If you need to release equity to buy another property quickly
• If you don’t want to delay of listing your property with an estate agent
• If you want a guaranteed offer with no chain
• If you don’t want to pay any Estate Agency fees
• If you don’t want to pay in legal fees
• If you don’t want the risk of a property sale falling through
• If you have been renting out your home for less than 3 years (see tax section of guide)

Our previous and current clients have come to us to achieve a quick cash sale on their home for some of the above reasons, but we know there are many other reasons. Because of our experience in helping people sell their home quickly, we have systems in place to communicate with you effectively and efficiently, even if you’ve already made the move and are already living abroad.

Why selling your house quick to us is often better

• We can make a guaranteed cash offer
• We can communicate with you regardless of your location
• We never charge any fees for our service
• We pay £1,000 towards your legal fees
• Our property lawyers are experienced dealing with quick sales
• We can often complete within 28 days if required
• We can help you raise finance quickly
• A fast property sale means no Estate Agent or long property chains
• You do not have to be stay local throughout the sale

So if you want a quick house sale to help you migrate or relocate to another contact us by phone or by requesting a FREE on-line ‘quick house sale‘ property valuation – Our unique Sell House Fast service can help.

Please have a read of our free ‘sell house fast’ guide below to Emigration & Relocation.

Sell House Fast – Our Emigration & Relocation Guide

1. Location, Location, Location

Before you sell your house quickly and move to a new area or country make sure you get to know the area first.

Like they say on the “Location, Location, Location” show always get to know the area your moving to before taking the huge step of selling your home and moving.

Taking a holiday and living in a different area is very different especially after the first few existing weeks have worn off.

 

 

Before you decide to sell or rent out your house you should:

• Visit the area at least 3 times at different hours
• Talk to locals in the shops and see if their friendly
• Visit local events such as community centre events

2. Always inform your Lender or your Mortgage Company

It is extremely important that you let your mortgage company know you’re moving home. It usually forms part of your mortgage terms and conditions that you do so. Failure to inform them can result in a demand that you repay the mortgage in full, or in some circumstances, criminal prosecution.

When you let your lender know that you’re moving home you will usually be offered the following options by them:

• Move the Mortgage onto a Buy to Let product
• Have 3-6 months to sell the property
• Pay a slightly higher rate until the property is sold

3. Inform your Home Insurance Provider

If your home is empty for more than 30 days insurance companies often have a clause removing their liability, this means that if the worst happens and something goes wrong, your insurance is void! If you intend to rent the property out you will normally need to change your home insurance to a Landlords Buy to Let insurance policy. The process if fairly simple, but if you don’t take action, it could have serious implications, especially if you ever need to make a claim. So remember to do this as soon as possible.

4. Tax Implications

It’s important to understand the your tax situation should you wish to sell your home to emigrate, or relocate abroad. If you’re a UK citizen selling your home to emigrate overseas, then subject to meeting the following criteria, you will not have to pay CGT (Capital Gains Tax):

They are:-

• Your property is your main residence and was not purchased to produce an income.
• Your home has been your main residence since the time you purchased it.
• For the duration of your ownership it was used only by yourself and your immediate family.
• The total plot size of your home is no greater than around 50,000 Square Foot.
• You and your husband/wife or civil partner, have only one home which is used as your main residence.

If you meet the above criteria then you will not be required to pay any Capital Gains Tax on your property sale. You are also able to rent out your property for up to 3 years prior to the sale, subject to it previously meeting the above criteria. This is common practice for home owners who have relocated abroad, and have rented out their house for a few years before deciding to sell, this is also relevant to people renting out their home for a short period whilst they are on an overseas work assignment.

Capital Gains Tax

If you do not meet the above criteria then it’s likely you will have to pay capital gains tax on the sale of your home. You can declare this in your annual return, but remember, you will receive a tax free allowance of £11,100, correct at time of publication (March 2015), before paying any tax.

Because it will be classed as an investment income, you are also able to deduct relevant expenses incurred during the ownership to reduce your tax bill further. We advise you visit the HRMC website for further information but as a rule of thumb anything which involved the capital appreciation can be deducted such as:

• New Kitchen
• New Bathroom
• Windows, Doors, Roofing
• Renewable Energy Upgrades

After all the above allowed exemptions have been taken into account, all capital gains are subject to an 18% rate of tax for lower tax rate payers, and 28% capital gains tax for higher income tax payers.

Remember to keep all relevant documentation, e.g. invoices for a new kitchen/bathroom. You will need these to prove, if requested, to HRMC that expenses have been declared legitimately. A great way to do this if you’re regularly moving is: to just open a free cloud storage account with companies such as DropBox.com and scan all your relevant documentation online for safe keeping. This will save a whole lot of hassle if the originals are lost.

Property Rental Income Tax

If you are classified as a non-resident and decide to rent out your property then the letting agent will deduct 20% of the gross rental income and pay these proceeds to HRMC. You will then need to submit a personal return each year, and calculate any over or underpayment of income tax.

Like Capital Gains Tax, you can also claim relevant expenses from your rental income e.g.:

• Mortgages Payments (Interest Only Part).
• Maintenance Costs such as decorating.
• Letting Agency Fees.
• Eligible Renewable Energy Improvements.

If you have any of the above expenses, you could be in an unfair situation. That is whilst the letting agent is withholding 20% of the gross rental income, you still have to pay lots of monthly outgoings. If you have a good record with HRMC, you can apply directly to be paid 100% of the gross rental for which you will need to request them to send a ‘certificate of exception’ to your letting agent; they will then not need to hold back the 20%. It is also commonly miss-understood that if you don’t have a letting agent, you can get 100% of the rental income without applying for a letter of exemption. Whilst this may be possible short-term, the law actually passes the requirement onto the tenant to withhold the rental income. Most Landlords certainly do not want to risk this! If you are finding your monthly costs are greater than your rental income, we strongly suggest you apply for an exemption.