Due to a posting out of the county, I am going to have to rent out my house.

Having never done such a thing, what are the “main” things I need to be aware of?

All “relevant” tips, URL links etc are appreciated.

All the obvious but
1) rent insurance if you depend on the rent to cover mortgage.
2) ensure you can get the tenant out on your return ( my l and t law is not up to date secure shorthold was the name of the agreement)
3) maintenance who is going to organise this while you are away ?
4) possessions if you value it do not leave it in the house not even in a locked room.
5) if you have a mortgage you will have to tell the lender who will increase your rate.
6) insurance as 5 .

I rented mine out for 18 months when I briefly had a job with accommodation thrown in.
I opted to pay 10% of the rent in fees to a letting agent, it was hassle free and well worth it.

As above, worth paying for a letting agent to do it. Make sure you fully document condition of all aspects of house before you leave.

Some letting agents will guarantee your rent even if tenants don’t pay….worth having a look. Don’t know where you are but there is one called Northwood round here that do that.

Cheers guys, some good food for thought!! I think letting someone else manage it will be a lot less hassle. TBH I am not sure we are even going to come back to the house, but it’s good to keep our options open.

When we rented a property we “self managed” and just paid a tennet finders fee. We were not out of the country so it was easy to do, when there is a problem the tennet calls you and you call the plumber / handyman. In our view paying 10-15% plus VAT on rent was not attractive / worth it. In your case unless you have a trusted friend/relative close by who doesn’t mind doing this it may make sense to pay a monthly management fee.

The finders fee also covered a proper short term lease used by the rental company, so tried and tested.

You will need to get certificates and annual check up on the boiler.
You will find tennets break stuff and do things they are not supposed to do (ours screwed things into wooden doors) – so make sure the inventory is very carefully done upfront and checked over. Make sure house is spotless on handover with windows having been cleaned and make sure it’s in the contract that it’s returned that way. Don’t be afraid to take money out of the deposit to cover these sort of things.
You will have to declare rent on your tax return but as you’ll be out of the country you only get taxed on UK income (so assuming house is in joint names that’s 20k tax free income plus you can offset mortgage interest and repairs).
You can rent your house for 3 years without it being a problem with capital gains tax.
Keep some of the rent for redecoration / rennovation when the tennets leave – that way you come back to a nice place, possibly upgraded.
Regarding the lender point made by @crankboy, thats up to you but they will not necessarily increase the rate if it’s a short term move (they didn’t with a friend of mine, you can make a decision about whether to tell them at all)
Regarding household insurance, if it’s let empty you only need buildings but you should tell the insurers you are renting – IMO this is more important than telling the mortgage company

Enjoy the posting !

OK Letting agents are below estate agents in the list of people you would trust, somewhere next to crack heads.

The make money on initial rent out and monthly (you will need to do this unless you can field calls from the tenant while away), I have known of some that try and juggle their existing clients into new homes to get more finders fees (normally 50% of the monthly rent)

Make sure they are part of the Ombudsman scheme, ask to see their inventories, double check, take photos’s, give them a copy ask them to sign for it as the state of the property that you hand to them.

Do not expect the house back as you found it, expect it to cost you money.

If you start from this point you won’t feel disappointed.

On the plus side some are better, more like excessive weed smokers in suits.