Removing and adding someone to a mortgage

Michelle22_2

Hi all,

Me and my partner have been together for 3 years and are currently living in an apartment which he has a mortgage for. When he took out the mortgage we were not together and his mother was added as joint owner (50/50).
We now want to take his mother off the mortgage and add myself. The plan will then be to rent out the apartment and apply for a mortgage on a second home.
We spoke to the mortgage advisor about this last year just out of curiosity, and she mentioned that we would need to see a solicitor when the time comes. Now we are ready to get the wheels in motion we don't really know where to start. Do we need to speak to the mortgage provider first or go to a solicitor? If we go to a solicitor, what would we need to ask for?

Any advice that anyone could give on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Michelle.

opinions4u

You need to talk to decide which solicitor you wish to use.

You then need to talk to the lender to ensure that they will consent to the change. They may not do so if they know there's an intention to let.

Both will charge fees.

Michelle22_2

Thank you for your reply. Please could I just ask, what exactly do we need a solicitor for? Is it just for a transfer of equity form? Are you aware, roughly, of how much this may all cost?
We won't be renting the apartment out for a few months yet, so maybe we won't tell the lender at this time...

Thanks, Michelle

kingstreet

There's no point seeing a solicitor until you've been vetted by the lender and they agree to the change. Once that's confirmed, they may well "panel" the transfer to a solicitor of their choice. In those circumstances, you can use the lender's solicitor, or appoint one to act for you.

Assuming admin fee charged by lender and fee to single solicitor, I'd say in the region of £600.

At the point you decide to ask the lender for consent to let, they may refuse your request. Then you'll face remortgaging to another lender and the transfer of equity could have been done as part of the remortgage process, possibly a bit easier and a bit cheaper.

Michelle22_2

That's great! Thank you for your advice.