Transferring (Porting) a Woolwich Mortgage

little_princess

Hi All,

Has anyone got an old Woolwich Offset Mortgage with a Reserve Account and tried to transfer this to a new house? If so could you tell me how this went and if Barclays tried to make you pay back the Reserve Account or take out a more expensive loan to pay it off?

Many Thanks
little_princess

Linus2864

Hi Princess,

We are currently on a Woolwich Offset mortgage with a Reserve and are in the process of moving.

When we applied through our IFA, we were informed that from 1 Sep 2011, existing Woolwich customers can no longer port their mortgages and we were required to take up a new mortgage with Barclays (who now own Woolwich) after using the sale of our existing house to pay off the outstanding mortgage.

However, our IFA did get us onto the Barclays loyalty offset mortgage which still seems a good deal and compares favourably with other mortgages.

If you have an IFA or broker, you'll need to check with them, or call Barclays mortgages to ask about porting on 0800 022 4022.

Hope this helps.

little_princess

Thanks Linus,

That's completely different to what they told me yesterday, I was told I could port, but would have to lose either my lifetime tracker rate or the offset ability :mad:

There was no mention of the porting not being available.

Just out of curiosity when did you originally take out your Woolwich mortgage?

Thanks again for your reply
princess

Wh05apk

You are able to port the mortgage if you are keeping the balance the same or less, if you want more then you keep the rate and lose the offset, taking the additional on a new product, or put the whole amount onto a new deal, in which case they will waive the penalty.

Personally I feel Barclays/Woolwich are treating existing customers very badly with this, previously they would have produced a new "blended" rate to take into account any additional borrowing, by doing this, you will almost certainly have to pay a further arrangement fee, and be tied in again for at least 2 years.

little_princess

Thanks Wh05apk,

So if I need additional monies to buy the new house, but can find this money elsewhere, would this mean that my existing mortgage and reserve fund would remain the same and on the same rate and would just transfer over onto the new house?

Thanks
Princess

little_princess

Also does this mean that Linus2864 was given incorrect information about the porting being no longer available?

Wh05apk

LP, yes you should be able to port it, but not sure about the reserve, it would have to be repaid, then drawn back again.

With regards to Linus being given incorrect information, nothing surprises me with Woolwich, but I suspect it may be more mis-understanding somewhere.

little_princess

Thanks Wh05apk,

Do you have any advice as to who I would be best speaking to regarding this mortgage. From previous experience I have been given differing advice on the telephone and in branch, so am never confident that the information given is correct.

Wh05apk

This is the problem with dealing with branches, they "should" be experts, but sadly they are not, you need to speak to a mortgage advisor in branch, or find a good broker, their rules have changed recently, so make sure who ever you speak to is aware of the changes.

little_princess

Thanks again Wh05apk, do you have any details on the changes, I found this quote on a Barclays webpage

Clients looking to port their existing Offset Mortgage
If your client does not require additional borrowing they can port their existing Offset Mortgage, interest rate and balance

But am unclear as to whether the word "balance" refers to the mortgage balance or the reserve...any idea?

Linus2864

Some interesting replies here! It seems like Woolwich/Barclays provide "variable advice" depending on the applicant, time of day, weather etc etc!