When moving home, you don’t always need to search for a new mortgage provider. In some cases, you might be able to ‘port your mortgage,’. This is where you transfer your current mortgage to your new property.
Is Porting Your Mortgage Right For You?
The option is certainly attractive, as by porting your mortgage, you won’t have to go through the hassle of finding a new mortgage lender. However, you need to consider whether it really is right for you.
You should consider the option if your current mortgage has a favourable interest rate when compared to that of other lenders. You might also consider the option if you are facing significant exit fees when leaving your current deal early. Financially speaking, you could be better off after porting your mortgage.
However, if you can find a better deal elsewhere, then you might want to take on a new mortgage. This is especially true if your current lender’s approval criteria have changed, as you might need to borrow additional money from them when porting your mortgage. This could affect your interest rate. By looking elsewhere, you might find a deal that is better suited to your financial needs
Speak To A Mortgage Broker
To begin the porting process, you should speak to a mortgage broker to understand your options with your current lender, and any alternatives.
If it is a viable option, your broker will assess your financial circumstances to ensure you are in a position to meet the monthly repayments with either your current or another lender. If your circumstances haven’t changed since you last took out the mortgage, then you should be given the go-ahead for porting your mortgage.
However, if your circumstances have changed, perhaps because you have more financial commitments or because you are on a lower income, then you might not have the option to port your mortgage. You might have to rearrange a new mortgage or consult another lender if your mortgage application gets turned down.
If porting is an option, then you need to consider the property you are moving into. If you are downsizing, you should be able to keep your existing mortgage deal when porting over. You will still have fees to pay, but few adjustments will need to be made to your current mortgage. However, if you are porting to a more expensive property, then you will need to borrow more money, and you could be stuck with a higher rate of interest.
What You Need To Do
1. Check your current mortgage to find out if it has the ‘porting’ feature.
2. Speak to a broker about other mortgage deals to see if you can find a better deal elsewhere.
3. If porting seems like the best answer, speak to your mortgage lender to find out more. If it appears that you will be financially worse off, you might want to reconsider. However, if there are financial benefits to porting, consider the option.
For more information on porting your mortgage, speak to a member of our team for more advice if considering using our CIS mortgaging options. It could be that a different CIS mortgage is more suitable than your current deal.