Moving House outside of Initial Term - Can I port and product switch together to avoid product fees?

mrsquare

Hi all,

I've had an offer accepted on a new property just as I come to the end of the initial term on my current mortgage deal.

The rates being offered by my current lender (Halifax) are competitive, and I'd be happy to stay with them. The only downside I can see is that their product fees are significantly higher than other lenders. Does anyone know if its possible to port a mortgage to a new property and also do a product switch at the same time, and in doing so whether I'd likely avoid some/all of the product fees (and some/all of the hassle of doing a full remortgage)? 

It seems like that should be a simple enough transaction, but you never know! Bonus points if you can tell me whether adding an additional person to the mortgage at the same time would be likely to complicate things significantly.

many thanks!

dwsjarcmcd

Products are priced using a blend of fees and rates, so it's not surprising that the Halifax's fees are higher if its rate is lower.  There is no point in porting your current loan, presumably at SVR rather than taking out a new product as you won't avoid these fees.  If you want lower fees, then generally they will come with higher rates, so Halifax may have such products or another lender will.
By moving house, you will go through the full underwriting process with any lender, including the Halifax.  Whether adding an additional borrower makes this easier depends on such things as whether you need to add their income to improve affordability and what their credit history is.  More detail would be needed to give a more informed reply.

mrsquare

Thanks for the info! Its a fairly straight forward mortgage application, I hope - the additional person (my wife) has a good credit history, and we should be fine for affordability calculations even without her salary included - we just wanted to get her added to the deeds/legal documents this time around as I bought the current property before we were married.

That all makes sense though. In that case, if the fees are still payable even if sticking with Halifax, I will include some other lenders in my considerations. And yes, I'm on the SVR as of this month, so would like to lock back into a 3 or 5 year deal once we move.

amnblog

You are running off in the wrong direction here.
You would only 'port' a product if you were on it it before sold and bought. If you are currently on SVR, you would not port anything, you would simply take a homebuyer rate on the new mortgage If staying with Halifax).
If timing was such that you took a new rate on the current borrowing and then moved, you would port the existing, then take a new rate on the extra borrowing ( if any). This can get messy and could involve two product fees.
Adding a borrower to the new purchase does not complicate matters too much as you would be fully underwritten as a single applicant anyway.
One for a broker should you wish to avoid bullet holes in your feet.