Getting a UK mortgage to pay off foreign mortgage?

drummersteve

Hi all,

Not sure if this is possible, done some searching on the web but never seen the possibility come up...

Is it possible to get a UK mortgage to pay off a foreign mortgage I have on a property abroad? We have been paying the mortgage for some time, but the rates compared to the UK are awful! It was a 20% deposit, at 11.38% over 15 years... 

All my banking/tax paying etc is in the UK, I am transferring the money every month over (Ecuador) which in itself is costly. It would be so much simpler/cheaper if I could get a UK mortgage to effectively pay off the mortgage I have with the bank in Ecuador, and continue paying the mortgage in the UK. As we already own the house, there would be no legal work/other paperwork associated with the process of buying the house, as its already ours.

I know that overseas mortgages exist, but again all of the details I can see about these refer to the process of buying the house. Also requiring a ludicrous amount of assets as insurance etc.

Anyone know if this is possible?! Or is it wishful thinking... Thank you!

AnotherJoe

You could ask whoever currently provides your UK mortgage if you can increase that.  Or if you have no UK mortgage , see if you can take outa mortgage against your UK property. Then you can use that money for whatever you want. With the proviso that some mortgage lenders won't be happy if you use the money to pay off another loan, others will be OK.
And not that I'd advise lying but some people might say the money was for say, home Improvements To get round such issues. 

drummersteve

Thanks for you reply - I don't have any UK mortgage, or UK property - just the mortgage in Ecuador paying for the property over there, which I will soon be living in too (ie its not a let property, it will very soon be our home). Essentially I would be taking out a brand new mortgage purely for the sake of paying off the Ecuadorean one.

MWT

I'd file this under wishful thinking I'm afraid.

Without UK based assets to back the mortgage I don't think you will have any luck finding a lender.

Thrugelmir

Overpay the mortgage, thereby reducing the term and saving you interest. 

drummersteve

I thought as much! I'd love to overpay the mortgage, but the whole reason for asking would be to reduce my monthly bills to free up some cash... overpaying would require more!  Any other suggestions that might spring to mind, feel free to throw my way! Thanks everyone.

Brock_and_Roll

No British bank or lending institution is going to advance money with a property in Ecuador as security.
A possible solution would be to take out a personal loan in the UK (assuming the current mortgage is not that high) but this comes with a MASSIVE HEALTH WARNING.
If you take debt on in GBP and you are living, working and earning in Ecuador then you will be exposed to exchange rate movements. There is reason why interest rates are so high in Ecuador - and if their currency depreciates significantly against Sterling then the current interest rate might look a bargain in comparison!
There are many people in Eastern Europe who took out cheap Euro or Swiss Franc mortgages because the interest rates were lower and ended up losing their shirts (and their houses).

drummersteve

Thanks for the reply - the mortgage amount is $175k (Ecuador uses the USD). So its by no means a small loan amount...! I could look into getting a loan for as much as possible, and pay a chunk of the mortgage off that way. Probably the interest rates on the loan are favourable by comparison, I guess it all depends on how much of a loan I can get to make the double payment scenario worthwhile..