Santander Flexible Offset, post MMR, pay off or not?

st3v31963

Hello

I have a Santander Flexible offset Mortgage which is currently 20% drawn down (£60K of £300K facility), £25K of that 60K is offset.

I will shortly be in a position to completely redeem the mortgage if I so wish, and the same source of funds (inheritance) would also allow me to move house and still be mortgage free.

However, one of the original intentions of taking the product was to allow either a second property to be purchased, or to allow me to purchase a new house before selling the old one, thus reducing the stress of moving, and possibly allowing the purchase of a house that needs work to be habitable/comfortable. My current property was purchased before my previous (fully owned) house was sold, which is why the mortgage is only 20% drawn down. Santander seemed quite happy with this at the time.

However, in the post-MMR world, would Santander be forced to do a full affordability check before allowing me to draw down the £240K?

Fully drawn down, the mortgage would represent some 65% of the valuation of my current property at time of purchase, and probably less if it were to be revalued today. I would be fairly confident of passing any affordability check.

However, if they would need to do a full check, and assuming that they might not be so happy about the proposed use of the funds then I might be better off redeeming the mortgage ASAP, and getting a new one should it be needed when the time comes.

Does anyone have any experience of requesting a draw down of an existing facility from Santander (i.e. not just the savings funds) since the new MMR rules came into force?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

st3v31963

dimbo61

Yes Santander would do a full affordability check before lending you £240K