Transfer of title name & mortgage to another person

linkskkr

Have read a number of posts on transferring / adding / removing name to another "relative" party, but have not actually found anything on this yet.

The sticky situation is as follows:
- Boyfriend (bf) lends some money to girlfriend (gf) to purchase property in girlfriend's name *only* and therefore mortgage also in her name *only*
- They decide to break up - mutually - and bf now wants to have the property back in his name (and happy to take on a new mortgage, re-mortgage or the existing mortgage)

- Note:
1) value of the property is now higher than when it was originally purchased for
2) bf and gf *not* linked as spouses or partners "officially"

How can this be done? In particular, how can this be done without triggering stamp duty payments? There are some posts on transfer of equity, undervalue transfers, etc, but they don't seem to be fully relevant.

Any help or advice much appreciated. Thank you.

Doozergirl

It sounds like, essentially, the regular sale of a property.

If he needs a mortgage then he will need a new one because he isn't on the existing mortgage. That means a solicitor carrying out the conveyancing to keep the mortgage company happy. If the girlfriend has a mortgage then she cannot transfer the title without satisfying the mortgage company either anyway. gf could talk to mortgage company to clarify position, see what their take is but I suspect as the bf is not involved at all they would just see it as a sale.

As you transfer the property it would liable for stamp duty based on the full value of the property.

gf could talk to mortgage company to clarify position, see what their take is.

linkskkr

Thanks a lot for the quick response.

Is there any way to structure it so that no money changes hand effectively (as this is actually the case)? Obviously the mortgage is an issue, but if the lender is happy with bf to take over (be it with same terms or revised terms), then mortgage stays in place?

Or is this not possible at all?

Thanks again.

Richard_Webster

If gf has mortgage on property and bf takes over that mortgage or has a new mortgage to replace it, if the property itself is gifted there is still transfer of debt so SDLT is payable on the amount of the mortgage debt transferred if it is more than £175K (soon to be £125K).

linkskkr

Thanks Richard.

From what you're saying, does that mean stamp duty will only be payable on the mortgage (debt part) and not full value of property?

In this case then, how would the transfer work, if it isn't a sale from gf to bf? Can gf gift to bf easily?

Thank you.

Richard_Webster

It could be a gift but bf's mortgage lender will want to be happy the property is worth what you say it is and will want undervalue transfer insurance on gf.

If you have documented bf's loan to gf (and therefore any sale for money would reduce the price by that amount) then such a sale would not be at an undervalue because gf owed the amount to bf - so a straightforward sale might attract a little more SDLT but might be easier to get through and avoid the lender saying it won't lend if a gift is involved etc.