Consent to Let
Quick answer
Written permission from a residential mortgage lender allowing the owner to let out a home bought on an owner-occupier mortgage, without switching to a buy-to-let product. Usually granted for a limited period (often 6–12 months) and sometimes with a rate uplift. Letting without it breaches the mortgage terms and can, in principle, let the lender demand full repayment.
At a glance
- What
- Lender permission to let a residential-mortgage home
- Typical term
- 6–12 months, sometimes a rate uplift
- Without it
- Mortgage breach; possible repayment demand
- Common for
- Accidental landlords, job relocation
Full guide
Read the complete landlord guide on Consent to Let
Deadlines, fines and step-by-step compliance in our in-depth resource.
Open full guideWhy Consent to Let matters for landlords
Most "accidental landlords" — people who moved, kept the old home and let it — are on a residential mortgage that quietly forbids letting, and the cheap fix is a Consent to Let rather than an expensive remortgage. The risk of skipping it is not theoretical: an undisclosed let can invalidate buildings insurance at the exact moment of a claim, and a lender that discovers it can load the rate or call in the loan. Get the consent in writing, diarise its expiry, and move to a proper buy-to-let product before it lapses.
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Related terms
Pet Request (Renters’ Rights Act)
The tenant’s statutory right, under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, to request permission to keep a pet in a rented home in England. The landlord must respond in writing and cannot unreasonably refuse, and blanket “no pets” clauses in the tenancy are void. The landlord has 28 days to reply (extendable by a further 7 days if they reasonably need more information) and can make consent conditional on reasonable terms.
Rent-to-Rent (R2R)
An arrangement where a middle party rents a property from the owner on one agreement, then sub-lets it (often room by room as an HMO) to occupiers for a higher total rent, keeping the margin. Legitimate only with the owner’s written consent, the correct tenancy type and — critically — the right HMO licence held by whoever is the "person in control". Done without consent or a licence it is a common source of unlawful-eviction, deposit and licensing liability.
Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service)
Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord of a residential dwelling in England or Wales to give the tenant a written address in England or Wales at which notices can be served. Until a compliant address is given, no rent is legally due. A common cure for an overseas landlord is to use the letting agent’s UK address (with the agent’s consent), but the address must be the landlord’s address for service, not a generic correspondence address.
Sub-letting
A tenant granting occupation rights to a third party (a sub-tenant) while the original tenancy continues. Most ASTs prohibit sub-letting without written landlord consent; under the Housing Act 1988 unauthorised sub-letting is ground 12 (discretionary) for possession and may also be a banning-order offence under section 79 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 if rent is taken from the sub-tenant beyond the rent paid to the landlord (“rent-to-rent fraud”). The Renters Rights Act 2025 retains sub-letting consent as a contractual landlord right with a reasonable-refusal threshold.
Buy-to-Let Mortgage
A mortgage designed for a property bought to rent out rather than live in. Lending is assessed mainly on the rent the property will produce, not just the borrower’s salary, and most are interest-only. Deposits are larger than for a residential mortgage — typically at least 20–25% — and the interest is relieved only as a 20% tax credit under Section 24.
Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR)
The rental stress test buy-to-let lenders use to decide how much they will lend. It measures whether the rent covers the mortgage interest by a required margin — commonly 125% for basic-rate borrowers and 145% for higher-rate borrowers — tested at a notional stressed interest rate rather than the actual pay rate.