Can Halifax insist on changing our mortgage?

poppy10_2

Tbonetone wrote: »

And yes, it galls me to think that the Halifax would just walk away with massive profit from this mortgage deal over the last 4 years and we would lose £15-20k in terms of depoist paid, lost equity and fees. Halifax laughs all the way to the, er, bank...

Hardly. By your own admission you only have 9% equity in the property. If Halifax have to repossess it then it's reasonable to assume they'll only get around 20% less than your valuation figure if they have to flog it off at auction for a quick sale. Therefore the amount they get back will be less than what you owe them. They lose out too, unless they chase you for the shorfall.

Why has the flat been vacant for the last ten months? If you had stayed living there, could you have saved the rent/mortgage you are paying on the other property and put that towards paying down the mortgage and reducing the LTV?

MarkyMarkD

Hughieboy wrote: »

That's about spot on. And I didn't mean to 'hit out' at anyone. And no, we never considered it a business, more the most practical means to an end at the time. We are going to shop around for a buy to let mortgage and see how it compares with what the Halifax are insisting on.

No offence intended, just quite frustrated and feeling the pressure.

Onwards and upwards!

You have to accept that effectively, if you were unhappy to sell at the price you could get at the time you decided to let the property, you made a decision to continue borrowing from the lender in order to "take a punt" on house prices increasing.

Mortgage lenders shouldn't be in the business of lending money - at residential, owner-occupier rates - to people who are gambling on house prices.

The fact that they - or many of them - were doing so a few years ago doesn't mean that there is any obligation on them to continue doing so.