Renting it out if she has a mortgage can be a sticking point also. She's maybe also doing this for tax purposes as it's a 2nd property.
Her accountant would have advised her though. Maybe someone with more knowledge can correct me.
Renting out a property has become a lot less lucrative since they scrapped being able to offset rental income against mortgage interest payments. You’d also have to inform your lender and buy to let mortgages are typically at higher interest rates.
We looked into it for a flat in London and we’d have barely made a profit. So she’s not giving up a lot by charging no rent.
But the stamp duty on second homes over a million is prohibitively expensive (15% over £1.5 million). Unless she registered Greyskull in someone else’s name, she’s been stung on the stamp duty front. She also couldn’t keep her mortgage on it if she transferred ownership.
She’ll also have to pay capital gains tax on any profit when she comes to sell Greyskull if it’s not her principal primary residence. I think she may have put it in her mum and dad’s name to avoid the CGT and stamp duty, and perhaps acted as guarantor for their mortgage.
