Mortgage Porting - conflicting advice - help please!

Sometimes_Sensible

Hello everyone
We (mr & mrs sensible) have a mortgage with First Direct for about 130k which has passed the initial term and so now on a SVR - very low rate now 1.6%.:)
We're now wanting to move house, and have accepted offer of 240k and had an offer of 230k accepted on house we're planning to move to.
I rang First direct a few weeks ago to check whether we could 'port' our mortgage and spoke to a sales advisor who said that so long as we were not extending our mortgage, we could move the borrowing across to the new house without reapplying. He said to ring when we'd found somewhere and they would 'send a form out'. He said we'd need to pay for a survey to make sure the new house was sound, which makes sense.
So, on Friday I rang and spoke to a different sales advisor who told me that although we could keep the same terms we would need to reapply and go through all the application process with affordability test, bank statements etc. I did this there and then on the phone and she told me that she 'should be able to send out an in principle agreement'.
I'm happy that we can keep the same rate but annoyed and confused as to why we can't just move it across as initially advised? Does anyone know if this is possible? I don't understand the need for affordability test because if we were just to stay put, they wouldn't re-do it? We've never defaulted on any payments.
The main concern is about timing - I expect the reapplying will take a long time and our buyers are keen to exchange quickly. I'd previously reassured them that we didn't need to apply for a mortgage and could port it but now I'm worrying that either we might not get the mortgage agreed (our earnings have decreased since the original application) or our buyers will get cold feet and pull out.
Our original mortgage offer says "This mortgage is transferrable to a different property after the initial period" (ended)..."please see enclosed charges leaflet for details..>" Said leaflet seems to contradict saying "What happens if I want to move house?" . . . "We'll need to arrange a new First Active mortgage for you".
Sorry for long post. Help! Panic!:eek:
Thanks in advance for any replies
Mr S

_Andy_

Porting is never guaranteed and will always involve a new application.

GMS

As Andy says porting is subject to meeting all lender criteria at the time of porting.

A portable mortgage does not guarantee you the ability to move it, merely apply to do so

opinions4u

Is it First Direct or First Active?

Any portable mortgage product will be subject to the lender's current criteria - in other words they don't have to lend to you if they don't want to.

Terminology is also important here. A mortgage is specific to a single property. A mortgage product (rate) can be transferred (subject to agreement) from a mortgage on property A to a new mortgage on property B.

Sometimes_Sensible

Oops, it's First Active. Don't really understand the need to re-test the affordability as the only risk that is changing for them is the title that's being mortgaged.
Thanks a lot. Fingers crossed then!

Thrugelmir

Porting is merely the transfer of the existing terms and conditions of your mortgage product.

When moving house you are in effect applying for a new mortgage (i.e. loan). So checking that your circumstances are the same is reasonable. As you said:

(our earnings have decreased since the original application)

Lending criteria does change. In the past 18 months considerably tighter.

MoneyJuggler

Hi,

First post, so apologies if I should start a new thread(?). I am in a very similar position to OP, I'm hoping to port my mortgage with First Active to another property, with approx 60% LTV, and don't want to increase the amount borrowed or change my LTV.

However, First Active is not offering any new mortgages, so I would have to re apply for an RBS Mortgage (parent company). I fell (extremely!) lucky in that I am now on variable of 1.1 above base, so really don't want to lose that deal, but have to move 200 miles away for work.

Has anyone had any experience of porting a First Active mortgage across to RBS? The advisor I spoke to told me that I would just re apply, with full affordability checks, but that they could port the rate as long as I fulfilled their (now tighter,obviously) criteria.

I have never missed a payment on anything, been with FA for about 4 years, and have a clean credit rating, however, like the OP, my income has decreased, in my case by about 15%.

My main concern here is what factors they take into consideration - I would need a multiple of about 4.75 times my current income, or 4.4 times and 1 x my wife's income.

Is income the only factor here, or does history count at all,or the fact that I already have the mortgage that I am applying for?

Sorry if these are very simple questions, I have only ever bought one house , the one I'm in, 17 years ago, so the whole process is new to me.

Would be really grateful for any advice or experience of similar situation anyone has, many thanks in advance!

Thrugelmir

MoneyJuggler wrote: »

Is income the only factor here, or does history count at all,or the fact that I already have the mortgage that I am applying for?

Other factors that affect affordability are other financial commitments and number of dependents you have.

You may be allowed to borrow less at the same rate in the porting process. If affordability is an issue.

Jojo1daffy

I had exactly the same thing with First Active last year. I had misunderstood portability as a straightforward transfer of a mortgage to a new property - they told me not the case and I would have to reapply but to RBS. They have been shut for applications for a fair while now so probably just want to get rid of their mortgage book any way they can. They were quite 'loose' shall we say in their lending criteria back in the day and have suffered because of that (although not because of me and you! )

MoneyJuggler

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Other factors that affect affordability are other financial commitments and number of dependents you have.

You may be allowed to borrow less at the same rate in the porting process. If affordability is an issue.

Thank you,that's helpful info, I may well have to take the second option!

I did a trawl through the RBS website, and found a calculator on there, and after filling in mine and OH incomes, it came back with

"The maximum we will usually lend based on the information given above is £(approx 85% of my current mortgage). However, we will consider amounts greater than this."

It's the second sentence which I am trying to find the influencing factors for, as it does imply some flexibility, but have had difficulty finding any further information. Anyone had any similar experience with RBS?

MoneyJuggler

Jojo1daffy wrote: »

I had exactly the same thing with First Active last year. I had misunderstood portability as a straightforward transfer of a mortgage to a new property - they told me not the case and I would have to reapply but to RBS. They have been shut for applications for a fair while now so probably just want to get rid of their mortgage book any way they can. They were quite 'loose' shall we say in their lending criteria back in the day and have suffered because of that (although not because of me and you! )

Thank you, yes I agree, and the other possible upside for them is that it would look like RBS is actually lending more money, even though it's money they have already lent!

I'm also not sure what will happen to my current mortgage if I don't fulfil the new affordability requirements -are they likely to tell me I can't stay on the mortgage I already have?