Porting a Mortgage: Transferring a Mortgage to Another Property

What Is It? Porting a mortgage means transferring your existing mortgage balance to a new property while keeping the same lender and mortgage terms. The amount you can port is limited to your outstanding balance—you cannot increase it. If you need additional borrowing, this must be arranged separately and will be subject to the lender’s current rates and terms. Mortgage porting is commonly considered when moving home, but it can also be relevant in situations such as divorce or separation or when switching your residential property to a buy-to-let (known as let-to-buy).

When To Port A Mortgage: In the common scenario of porting your residential mortgage to a new home, the primary reason for doing so is to retain the favourable terms of your current deal, such as low interest rates, and to avoid an early repayment charge (ERC). If porting your mortgage is approved, you will pay off your current mortgage with the proceeds from selling your house and take out a new mortgage with the same lender. If you need to borrow more to purchase the new home, the additional amount will usually be at the lender’s current rates. However, you will retain the same rates and terms for the portion of the new mortgage that comes from your original deal.

Benefits: The main advantage of porting your mortgage is that if interest rates have risen, you can save money by retaining the lower fixed rate on the portion of the new, larger mortgage that corresponds to your original deal, while only the additional borrowing will be at the higher current rates.

Get Expert Advice: Given your unique situation, a mortgage advisor can help you compare the different mortgage products available. Porting a mortgage should always be considered against alternatives such as bridging loans or taking out a new mortgage with a different lender.

How does it work?

Technically speaking, your existing mortgage will be paid off with the proceeds when you sell your house, but you’d be moving onto a new mortgage with the same lender, retaining the same rates and terms for the original loan amount. The amount you borrow doesn’t have to be the same – it could be more or less than before.

When porting a mortgage, a deposit is typically not required if the new property’s value matches or is less than the current one. However, if the new home is pricier, you may need to cover the difference. Lender policies vary, so it’s crucial to understand specific requirements and any potential impact on interest rates or terms.

You can transfer your mortgage to a new property by ‘porting’ it with your current lender. The process is similar to applying for a new mortgage. The lender’s main considerations will be whether you can still afford the mortgage and whether their risk position is likely to change.

For example, if the new property’s value is different and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio increases, there is more risk involved, and the lender might reconsider re-approving you for the same deal or offer different terms for the additional borrowing.

Not all lenders allow you to port your mortgage. If you think you might port your mortgage to a new property at some point down the line, you should check the details when applying for your mortgage.

Why port your mortgage?

People port their mortgages mainly because they think they’re getting the best interest rate possible and don’t want to give it up. Others might feel that the terms and conditions of their existing agreement perfectly fit their needs. In other words, they want consistency.

Another advantage of porting a mortgage is that there are no early repayment charges (ERCs) to foot if you’re locked into a fixed-rate deal. The process can be quicker than applying for a mortgage from scratch, but only if your circumstances haven’t changed since entering the deal.

But there are drawbacks to consider, too. The biggest one is that sticking with your current lender without checking the entire market first could mean you miss out on a better deal available elsewhere. You should always speak to a broker before agreeing to port.

If you’re unsure whether porting your mortgage is a good idea, you should speak to a broker. They can review the market and see whether porting your mortgage or leaving your current deal for a new one is the best option.

How to transfer your mortgage to another property

Your first step should be to find a specialist mortgage broker with experience in this type of lending. This will save you a lot of time and boost your chances of getting approved at the best terms available.

Using our broker-matching service, you can speak directly with the right broker by simply making an enquiry online.

They’ll be able to guide you through the following steps and give your application the best chance of success:

• Establishing whether your mortgage is portable and checking if any early repayment charges may apply
• Downloading and optimising your credit reports to correct any inaccuracies or remove outdated information before you apply
• Finding the right lender and securing the best deal for you.

What will your new mortgage payments look like?

Use our mortgage porting calculator below to calculate your mortgage payments after you port your loan to your new home.

Input the total mortgage amount to be ported – i.e. the outstanding balance plus any extra you’re borrowing – along with the term length remaining and your current interest rate to get your calculations.

Remember that your repayments may vary as your mortgage lender can adjust your interest rate if you are porting and borrowing more. You should speak to a mortgage broker if you want bespoke repayment calculations that factor in these variables.

Factors that affect whether you can port

When porting your mortgage to another property, you’re re-applying for the same deal all over again. This means that your mortgage provider might take another look at your affordability and credit history to make sure you still meet their eligibility criteria.

Whether you can – or indeed, should – port your mortgage may depend on these factors.

Whether your circumstances have changed

If your personal or employment circumstances have changed since you took out your original mortgage, the options available might be different than they were last time.

For example, if your credit report has improved or your income has increased, you might qualify for a more favourable mortgage deal than your current one. If this is the case, having a mortgage broker round up every deal you now qualify for is a good idea.

On the flip side, if your income has dropped or you’ve had credit problems since you took out your mortgage, there’s a chance mortgage porting might not be a viable option, as your lender might tell you that you no longer meet their eligibility requirements.

The price of the property you’re buying

Most cases of mortgage porting occur when someone buys a house with a higher value than their existing one. However, that’s not always the case, and there are differences in the application process to be aware of.

• Moving to a cheaper property. Porting your mortgage to a cheaper property can be straightforward because you’re not applying to borrow more money. Despite this, you’ll still have to go through the mortgage application process, which may have become stricter since you took out your original mortgage. If the loan amount stays the same but the property value is reducing, the lender may block the move if they consider their position at greater risk, as the loan-to-value ratio will increase.
• Moving to a more expensive property. You would most likely need to apply for extra borrowing if you don’t have the additional capital to make the difference. If you’re porting and need to borrow more, the additional borrowing is typically done on a new mortgage product based on the lender’s available rates. Suppose you’re putting in the cash to cover the additional cost. In that case, the lender will likely be in a stronger position and have a lower loan-to-value (LTV), meaning the risk to the lender is lower, and there’s less chance of your mortgage application being declined.

The type of property you’re buying

Most lenders view porting a mortgage to an unusual or non-standard property as a higher risk. They’ll want to know if the property is a good security for the loan so that in the unfortunate event of repossession, they can easily resell it.

The worry is that the more unusual the property, the more limited the market, so many porting mortgage rules don’t allow for unusual or specialist properties.

Such properties include:

• Unique properties
• Listed buildings
• High-rise  flats
• Ex-local authority
• Uninhabitable property
• Non-standard construction
• Concrete
• Timber frame
• New builds

This is often the case with big banks and building societies, as they tend to have stricter lending criteria around mortgage porting. Therefore, they may reject an application for an unusual property, especially one that’s uninhabitable. In these cases, lenders might ask for a larger deposit to offset the risk, so it isn’t always impossible to transfer your mortgage.

Whether you have bad credit

Lenders view borrowers with bad credit as a higher risk and can ask for a bigger deposit or even reject an application. With this in mind, most high street banks and building societies won’t usually consider a borrower porting mortgages with recent credit issues.

However, as they already have the debt in place, if the mortgage is just moved to a new property, and the risk to the mortgage lender doesn’t change (or improve their position if the loan to value reduces), they may still consider your application.

Suppose the application to port the mortgage is declined due to bad credit. In that case, there may well be other bad credit mortgage lenders happy to approve you for a brand new mortgage, depending on what the issues are, how recently they occurred, and whether there’s a good reason for them.

Common misconceptions about mortgage porting

Below, we’ve busted some of the most popular myths circulating around mortgage porting…

Lenders reward customers for porting mortgages:

Many believe their lender will offer them incentives to port their mortgage and reward their loyalty. While some mortgage providers offer better rates for existing customers, this isn’t true of every lender, and even if you are offered an exclusive deal, there’s no guarantee you won’t get a better one by broadening your horizons and considering other lenders.

Porting your mortgage is the quickest option:

This isn’t always true. If your circumstances have changed or you’re moving to a more expensive property, mortgage porting can take just as long as a new application. The best way to save time on your application is to speak to a mortgage broker, who will help you with all the paperwork and ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible.

You should always port to avoid early repayment charges:

That is not necessarily true. While porting can be useful if you’re locked into a fixed-rate agreement with high early repayment charges, it might not be the cheapest option in the long run. It’s important to find out exactly how much those ERCs will set you back, as it might be worth taking a hit if they’re relatively low and there’s a much better deal to switch to.

Which lenders offer mortgage porting?

Most mainstream mortgage lenders, including Nationwide, HSBC and Halifax, offer portable mortgages, but others, such as Swansea Building Society and Aldermore, don’t.

Certain mortgage providers only offer porting with caveats, for example…

• Barclays won’t let you port your mortgage to a property you already own or won’t grant your permission to transfer if you’ve been granted consent to let
• Leeds Building Society won’t let you port Shared Ownership or shared equity mortgages.
• Saffron Building Society has porting restrictions on products such as buy-to-let light refurbishment remortgages and self-build mortgages.
• Natwest Places restrictions on Help to Buy Shared Equity mortgages

If you’re worried you might not meet your lender’s restrictions when mortgage porting, speak to a mortgage broker before you apply. They can tell you exactly how likely you are to be rejected by your lender and help you find an alternative mortgage provider if necessary.

In any case, it’s advisable to speak to a broker before you contact your lender about mortgage porting, as it’s important to establish whether sticking with your provider is the best option.

We offer a free broker-matching service that will quickly assess your requirements and pair you with the ideal advisor. Speaking to them before you discuss porting with your lender could save you time, money, and potential marks on your credit report in the long run.

Call 0330 818 7026 or make an enquiry online, and we’ll set up a free, no-obligation chat with your ideal mortgage broker today.