u/slutforcrosswords

I earn £100k currently, owing £41k on a plan 2 student loan. About to sell my home and move to Barcelona to earn €100k + bonus with higher take-home (due to Beckham’s Law).

I will have the money available to pay my loan in full and keep a strong emergency fund but unsure what to do as lots of conflicting advice on what to do when moving abroad.

As context, I may take a career break for pregnancy in next 2-3years but I’m broadly confident I’ll earn at this level. Likely will move back to the UK at some point - maybe 2-3years. Unlikely we’ll buy in Spain, more likely we’ll buy in the UK on our return.

Advice wanted!

Edit: typos

Looking for some advice on a complex timing situation. My husband (33M) and I (30F) are currently in the middle of selling our first home and purchasing a new forever home in the UK. We expect to complete in June/July. We are borrowing an additional amount on top of porting our current mortgage to fund the upgrade. For this reason, we’re sticking with our current lender Halifax.

However, I’ve just been offered a fantastic career opportunity in Spain. I’d be employed by a Spanish company as a highly skilled worker and eligible for Beckham’s Law tax benefits. Whilst the job is a perm role, we would likely move for 2–3 years starting this summer, then return to the UK to live in the house we are currently buying.

We want to proceed with the purchase so the house is waiting for us when we return, with plans to rent it out in the meantime to cover the mortgage.

Unhelpfully, we need to decide by Friday and our contact at Halifax is on annual leave till Thursday + it’s a bank holiday today. Obviously we’ll try and speak with someone else in the interim but questions we want advice on ASAP:

1. Would Halifax allow us to complete on a residential mortgage if we aren't moving in immediately? Or will they see this as a "Buy-to-Let" and change the terms (higher rates/deposit)?
2. Has anyone successfully bypassed "Consent to Let" requirements to live there 6 months for a work relocation?
3. Will we be hit with the 2% non-resident SDLT surcharge if we aren't in the UK for 183 days after completion?

Has anyone done this "simultaneous purchase and relocation"? Are we better off cancelling our current purchase and renting our current property? Appreciate any advice or insights.