Changing to sole mortgage for better affordability

ernest1983

Hello all,

We're with Halifax for our mortgage and thinking of applying for a further advance to finance a garden outbuilding and some other home improvments.  We ideally would be looking for £40,000.

We're currently on a joint mortgage and when I enter our details onto a Halifax calculator I found online, it says we could afford an extra £23,000 . 

However if I change the data to just include me on a sole mortgage, the the figure jumps to £83,000.  I'm not sure why this is.  I have quite a high income compared to my wife, but I thought any extra income between the 2 of us, should improve affordability.

So we've wondered about removing my wife from the mortgage, then going ahead with a further advance with everything in my name.  
Hoping to get some opinions please.  Reasons why this is a good/bad idea?  Costs, timescales etc.

Thanks in advance

kingstreet

Lenders aren't keen on removing borrowers from mortgage/ownership and them continuing to reside in the property. Ask Halifax for an opinion.

ACG

There will also be a cost for changing the ownership, this is called a transfer of equity. 
I am not sure on this, but there could potentially be stamp duty implications.

Also, if you do go down this route - make sure there is a life insurance policy. If you were to die, your wife would get the house but she would not get the mortgage. Trying to remortgage on her income alone sounds like it would not be sufficient, so she could find she has to sell up. 

ernest1983

Thanks both.
We have insurance, perhaps too much if I'm honest!
Hadn't thought about stamp duty, but after a quick look online it looks like it isn't straight forward.
I think we will just wait until next year.  Once a personal loan is paid off in December it seems we could get the £40k needed on a joint basis.