Buy-to-let deals can release equity.

MOVING house is part of the fabric of life these days.

Very few people stay in one house for all of their adult life and some may move as much as half a dozen times or more.

The normal routine for moving is that you sell your current property and use the money to pay off your present mortgage and then set up a new mortgage on your new property.

This is a reasonable scenario but if the property you own is a potentially good investment and in an area where people are wanting to rent then you could keep it and let it out.

The potential problem is that you don't get the proceeds from the sale of your house to go towards buying your new one, but this can be solved by remortgaging your existing property on to a buy-to-let deal to release equity.

It should provide enough rent to cover the borrowing on it and if property prices increase, you would benefit from some capital appreciation.

Though quite a few lenders will not allow you to keep your existing property and arrange a mortgage to purchase a new home, there are some that will allow such an arrangement.

As long as you can demonstrate that your existing property can be rented out for an adequate amount then some lenders will not take your borrowing on it into account when you are applying for a mortgage on your new home.

If you want to go down this route, you have to check with your existing lender and also the new lender.

First you should inform your current lender that you are going to rent out your existing property.

If your current lender won't allow you to rent your property out you can still keep your property but you would have to remortgage to a different lender.

This mortgage selection was compiled by Tim Twiddy of Atlantic Investors. Freephone 0800 163659. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.