Mortgage for new house

DaveW007

We are selling our 3 bedroom home and want to downsize to a 2 bedroom home.

We have had our current mortgage with Halifax for a good number of years.

Both my partner and I have credit cards which we pay off in full each month and have never defaulted with payments on the mortgage.

We have no other debt.

The 2 bedroom house we like is cheaper that our 3 bedroom home and therefore we are looking at a smaller mortgage.

We thought it would be as simple as paying the mortgage off on our current house (once everything goes through) and transferring everything to the 2 bedroom house.

Halifax have said this is not possible!

The other problem we now have is that we are both on lower salaries than we were several years ago and Halifax are also taking this into consideration. Despite being on lower salaries we still pay off bills, mortgage, credit cards etc each month and have plenty left over.

Where do we stand?

beecher2

Your present income and cirumstances will always be taken into consideration. If Halifax say it is impossible to port, then you'll have to pay any ERC and find another lender. If you post details of household income, LTV and amount of mortgage needed then someone could possibly help - otherwise go to see a mortgage adviser.

DaveW007

After a couple of meetings with the mortgage advisor at the Halifax they will not give us a mortgage even though we need less money!!

We have however secured a mortgage with Santandar with no problems whatsoever.

The issue we now have is that Halifax want to charge us £1500.00 as we are closing our mortgage account with them!!!

Can they do this? This seems very harsh as it was them who wouldn't let us have a cheaper mortgage and now want to charge us £1500.00 for leaving them!!

GMS

Any fees due would have been detailed in your mortgage offer which you accepted.

Any porting of a mortgage is subject to meeting criteria at the time as it is a new application. Porting is generally regarded, incorrectly, as a straightforward moving of your current deal. Agreed it seems daft that they will allow you to stay on a more expensive mortgage than have the lower one they say you can't afford but that is how it is.

Not meeting current criteria is not grounds for a waiving of any fees

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Yes they can (and will) - a fact that many borrowers seem to merrily ignore when taking longer term fixed deals despite the very clear warnings (how clear depends on whether direct or advised sale admittedly).

_Andy_

DaveW007 wrote: »

After a couple of meetings with the mortgage advisor at the Halifax they will not give us a mortgage even though we need less money!!

We have however secured a mortgage with Santandar with no problems whatsoever.

The issue we now have is that Halifax want to charge us £1500.00 as we are closing our mortgage account with them!!!

Can they do this? This seems very harsh as it was them who wouldn't let us have a cheaper mortgage and now want to charge us £1500.00 for leaving them!!

Yes they can

kingstreet

DaveW007 wrote: »

The issue we now have is that Halifax want to charge us £1500.00 as we are closing our mortgage account with them!!!
Can they do this? This seems very harsh as it was them who wouldn't let us have a cheaper mortgage and now want to charge us £1500.00 for leaving them!!

Are you in a mortgage offer/product with an early repayment penalty which currently applies?

If you are, you have no choice but to pay it if you are redeeming the mortgage early.

DaveW007

The Halifax have us over a barrel.

After being customers for a good number of years they won't let us have a cheaper mortgage (even though we have never defaulted on payments and have a healthy bank account).

As we have no choice but to go elsewhere for a mortgage the Halifax are charging us £1500.00 for leaving them.

This just doesn't seem right or fair.

kingstreet

Can you please tell us if you have taken a fixed rate or other product in the last few years?

Is the charge you mention an early repayment penalty?