Transfer mortgage from sister to brother?

edinburghscotland

Is it possible to transfer a mortgage from one person to another?

My sister has a property worth £120k of which £90k is left on the mortgage. She hasn't lived there for a few years, and I live there with my girlfriend now.

I pay the mortgage direct to the lender, rather than pay her rent. She wants to walk away from the property (nearly all the equity in the home is as a result of me paying down the mortgage).

We want to formalise the situation by transferring the mortgage from her to me. Is that going to be a possibility?

She hasn't spoken to her lender yet, as she doesn't want to alarm them (though, the lender hasn't said anything about her having cancelled her Direct Debit years ago, and payments coming from me!)

suze369

wouldn't you have to buy her out as property and therefore deeds are in her name? Also as the mortgage was an agreement between her and the lender surely they would advise what the correct procedure is based on t&c's

I am sure more knowledgeable people than i can give you a more thorough answer

Goldiegirl

Yes, it's called a Transfer of Equity.

You'd apply for this Transfer at your sister's lenders.

Your sister would have to sign to say she was happy to be transferred off the mortgage (and property)

You'd then be assessed by the lender, in the same way that they assess any new borrower - you'd be credit checked, and provide proof of income.

If you were acceptable to them, they'd issue a letter of consent, to you and your solicitor. Your solicitor will then arrange for the property to be transferred to your name. when that's done, the lender will transfer the mortgage to your name.

Costs - about £160 to lender, £400 -£500 to the solicitor.

getmore4less

she should be paying income tax on the payments

need to do CGT assessment

eloulew

I am in this exact situation. My Brother and myself have approached his bank Halifax who are happy with my finances and have started the process. They have said they will charge us £160 and asked me to contact a solicitor to start the process of charging the ownership. However they are saying we need to be on a joint mortgage for a period of 6 months then repeat the process including charges from the bank and solicitors to remove his name?? Is that right? A solicitor I spoke to today said he didn't understand why they couldnt do a straight swap.

Goldiegirl

I used to work for the Halifax up until 5 years ago - when I was there, it wasn't a requirement to have a joint mortgage for a period of time - if there was a family relationship we could do a straight swop between family members, so this is new.

Perhaps you could ask Halifax of the reason for this.