I am living in a privately rented house. I am going abroad for 6mth. What happens if I give up the house.?

Question

I retire in December. My hubbie and I want to stay abroad for 6 months and live in the UK for 6months. At the moment we rent our house privately. What I said we could do is give up the house nearer the time and when we come back get another so we wouldn't have to pay rent and we wouldn't be leaving an empty house. But he said we would need an address for our mail etc while we were away. I just don't know what to do for the best. Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

There is no requirement that you have an address. There are some practical reasons to have one.

You can have the mail held at the post office.

You can get a new address. It could be a friend's house, a PO Box or a private mail box at Mailboxes, etc or something similar. Rarely are any of these organizations going to assume that you will not pick up your mail for 6 months. Hence check with them as to what they can offer for forwarding

There are a few services out there which will receive and then scan all your mail so that you get an electronic copy. They shred the mail after scanning it.

You definitely do not need to rent a home for 6 months while traveling. If you do there are risks that exceed the value of having a home rented. Best to deal with the mail by another means.

Answer 2

Your tenancy agreement should say how long you've signed up to rent your property for. Usually it is 12mths. Sometimes people (like me) negotiate a 6mths break clause into the lease which means that at the 6mth mark the tenant has the option to end the lease or renew it for a further 12mths. I would look at your tenancy agreement to find out the terms of the lease which should detail any break clause if it exists. Otherwise, you can negotiate with the landlord to end the tenancy early but they may ask you to pay a penalty i.e. 1mths rent to do this. The more in demand your property is the better chances your landlord will end your lease early and find someone else to take over the property.

Answer 3

If you have family/children you could use that address for mail. Paying rent for 6 months on an empty property is an expensive mailbox!!! Maybe your hubby is concerned about it not working out abroad but not voicing his worries very well? He may feel that keeping the house on meantime will give you some security if things go wrong abroad. Good luck & enjoy

Answer 4

Well I don't know if you have any relatives (children), but if you do I say ask if you can use there address for your mail. Also you can go to your local post office and rent a post office box while you still have an address. Pay for it up to a year and when you are about to go away explain to them that you are going overseas for 6mths and to please put your mail on hold. They will do this. That all the ideas I can think of. I don't think it's wise and frankly it's a waste of money to keep a rental just so you can have someplace for your mail to go, when the post office can hold it for you.

Answer 5

May I suggest getting a post office box? It will hold your mail and you don't have to worry about anyone stealing your mail or accidentally misplacing it, friends/family. The rate is way cheaper than House rent and I think that it wold be the best solution. All you would need to do is to put a "hold" on your mail for the 6 weeks.

Answer 6

Why not provide one of your parents addresses if you can, or another relative or friend.
Or you could get a Post Box from somewhere like "Mailboxes etc". Paying for a house while you're away just to have an address seems a bit of a pricey way to do it....

Answer 7

Who is this "He"?
If you mean the landlord of your house, its nothing to do with him.
If you mean your hubbie, well dont you have any friends/family in the UK? Could you not give out there address for your post to go to?

Answer 8

Do you not have family or a friend who would be willing for you to have the mail forwarded to?