If you’re considering moving home, you’ll be thinking about your existing mortgage and your mortgage options. At Mortgage360, we provide specialised advice for home movers, assessing a comprehensive panel which is representative of the whole of the market.
What is a Home Mover?
So what is a home mover? If you have an existing mortgage on your current property and you’re thinking about moving, you are classed as a home mover.
It may not be necessary to make significant adjustments to your existing mortgage provision, but it is the ideal time to assess your situation and look at your changing requirements.
Making structural changes to your existing mortgage may also mean you need to review other important insurance provisions such as life insurance and income protection. Mortgage360 provide expert advice from a range of market leading providers regarding family protection insurance.
Taking professional advice by consulting mortgage and protection advisers will ensure you take the right steps and make informed decisions, as well as ensuring your new mortgage continues to be affordable in terms of monthly repayments and also matches your changing needs into the future.
How does a Home Mover mortgage work?
At Mortgage360, home mover mortgages are one of our key specialisms. We work with our clients on their home ownership journeys, continuing to advise them as they upsize, downsize, relocate or move to their dream homes. Understanding their individual requirements and preferences is a vital part of the work we do.
Your choices include staying with your current lender and the same mortgage or moving to a new mortgage provider. You may have to pay an arrangement fee for any additional and new borrowing that you take. Staying with the same lender can be easier and sometimes cheaper.
Moving to a new lender can bring a number of advantages too, often including a keener interest rate. At Mortgage360, we’ll advise you on all the pros and cons and help you make an informed decision.
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What is porting?
Today’s mortgages are essentially often portable, so if it’s right for you, it can be an easy choice to take your mortgage with you. This can also help retain favourable rates of interest and avoid early repayment charges. If your new home is of similar value, it’s often a good choice.
But if you’re upsizing, then porting your mortgage may not be the right choice and may result in a second loan and additional arrangement fees and administration charges. We’ll look at your current provision and advise you on the best approach to suit your circumstances.
What if my mortgage isn’t portable?
This is where specialist advice is so valuable. Considering all the available options is essential to avoid costly issues like having to pay early repayment charges (ERC) which may be levied by your lender if you pay off part, or all of your entire mortgage earlier than the agreed period.
Remortgaging
You may be considering remortgaging at the end of a mortgage deal, if you’ve moved to a more costly standard variable rate, to reduce monthly payments or even to raise money for home improvements. Remortgaging on an existing property is a separate issue to a home mover mortgage, and is covered in more detail here (link to Remortgaging page).
How will the value of my current home affect things?
LTV (Loan To Value) plays a role here. If your current home has increased significantly in price, then your LTV on your existing mortgage will be more favourable and may enable you to secure a better interest rate.
Our expert mortgage advisers will apply their extensive market knowledge to your individual financial circumstances to ensure your new deal reflects your specific requirements.
Upsizing
You may be looking to upsize for a variety of reasons. If your family is growing, you may need more space, or you may want to make room for an elderly relative who needs support.
Upsizing may involve selling your existing home and putting the proceeds towards a bigger property, or alternatively using the equity in your home to provide a deposit on a second home and keeping your original as an investment, with a separate mortgage. In either situation and many more, Mortgage360 will advise and guide you on both your new mortgage and your existing deal.
Downsizing
The reverse of upsizing, downsizing can free up equity in your home and provide you with an opportunity to save money. Typically, this happens for people upon retirement and can have significant implications from a mortgage point of view. As a qualified mortgage and protection adviser, Mortgage360 provides informed advice.
Negative equity
Buoyant growth in house prices in recent years has meant this is less of a common issue for homeowners, but it does still happen. Negative equity means your home is worth less than the original mortgage secured on it, and can create problems if you want to move home or remortgage.
You have options however, including making overpayments to reduce your loan more quickly to even up the balance and take you out of negative equity, improving your financial circumstances.
How can Mortgage360 help home movers?
We understand and can advise on all aspects relevant to home movers, from home mover mortgages to insurance provisions. Complete the brief form to arrange a no-obligation initial consultation.
FAQ’s
Your level of borrowing will be determined by several factors, which will include your level of household income, your level of existing financial commitments i.e. personal loans, credit cards, car finance etc, and for what period you wish to borrow the money. Use our Mortgage Calculator to get a rough idea.
Most (but not all) mortgages are portable – this means that if you move property, you can take your current mortgage deal to your new home (called ‘Porting’). This is a great feature, especially if you’re still tied in on an existing rate. With porting you can potentially avoid an early repayment charge (ERC) as well as retain what might be a preferential rate. The lender will often require additional proof of income and an up-to-date credit check at the time of porting your mortgage. So, if your circumstances have changed, or you require a substantially different mortgage amount, you may no longer fit that lender’s criteria and a new lender may be your only option.
If the property is located in England or Northern Ireland, use our helpful stamp duty calculator.
If your property is located in Scotland, you can visit Revenue Scotland
If your property is located in Wales, please visit gov.wales
