Avoiding ERC on Barclays Green Home Help to Buy mortgage

cass88

Hi all,

I'm hoping for some advice that after reading all of my mortgage paperwork, Googling and calling Barclays (spoke to mortgage contact center and not a broker) i'm still not really sure if i have any options.

Essentially we wish to upsize to a larger home in another town (closer to children from previous marriage) which will involve clearing a 20% H2B loan and borrowing more with a mortgage. My mortgage comes with a ERC which is currently c.£4900. The mortgage product stipulates it needs to be used on a new build with a certain energy rating which the properties i am considering purchasing would not meet. The options that i know i have are

1 - Move now, complete all financial transactions which will include paying the full ERC
2 - Wait until 31/01/25 when the fixed term ends and avoid any ERC

Are there any other options i may have such as...

3 - Would Barclays allow me to port/take out a new mortgage product with them for the new property and avoid the ERC (considering the new purchase wouldnt meet my current mortgages T&Cs) ?
4 - Is there any way at all that they would take a customer centered approach and at any point calculate what i would pay in interest over the fixed term and use that as a charge e.g. 15 months of term remain at current monthly interest charge of £100 = £1,500 (these arent actual figures, just simplified for the example). They still get their interest paid in full and don't need to wait for it, i get to move home sooner and dont get rinsed for the ERC? This wouldnt be outside of there T+Cs but is there any precedent for them doing this?
5 - Are there any other option i may have?

Further information which maybe useful..

Product - Barclays Green Home H2B 1.76% fixed to 31/01/25
Our financial position is healthy (all relative i guess)
We currently overpay mortgage
On the sale of this property, clearing the H2B and factoring in savings, we'd have around £100k deposit and looking to purchase a £300k home, so LTV of around 66%

Thanks

housebuyer143

It's extremely unlikely they will let you port a product you don't have, so option 1&2 seem the most likely options for you in this situation. 
Option 4 is almost certainly no, as they don't have the systems to change you that and if they did it for you, in the matter of "treating customers fairly" they will find that they suddenly need to do it for everyone else in a similar situation.

cass88

Sorry just to add (i cant seem to edit my post), is there any grace period prior to the product end date that i could move and not get hit with the ERC or is it literally i move the day before 31/01/25 and get jit with the full £4+k ERC?

housebuyer143

cass88 said:

Sorry just to add (i cant seem to edit my post), is there any grace period prior to the product end date that i could move and not get hit with the ERC or is it literally i move the day before 31/01/25 and get jit with the full £4+k ERC?

In my experience it's if you pay off the loan, even a day early you get hit with the entire ERC.

penners324

Find a new build that meets all the criteria?

cass88

penners324 said:

Find a new build that meets all the criteria?

So if a property satisfied the green criteria the lender would accept a transfer/port even if i wasnt using H2B on the new property?

amnblog

Barclays Help to Buy products are not portable. However, you will have your Early Repayment Charge refunded if you repay the existing mortgage in full and take a Barclays residential mortgage to purchase the new property.

So, you cannot keep the rate - disappointing
You need not pay the ERC - encouraging

Also, the new mortgage must be at least 75% of the existing mortgage balance on the day it’s paid off
Where the sale and purchase do not happen simultaneously, the new mortgage must complete within 90 days of the existing mortgage being paid off. (I imagine you will fit both of these terms)

cass88

amnblog said:

Barclays Help to Buy products are not portable. However, you will have your Early Repayment Charge refunded if you repay the existing mortgage in full and take a Barclays residential mortgage to purchase the new property.

So, you cannot keep the rate - disappointing
You need not pay the ERC - encouraging

Also, the new mortgage must be at least 75% of the existing mortgage balance on the day it’s paid off
Where the sale and purchase do not happen simultaneously, the new mortgage must complete within 90 days of the existing mortgage being paid off. (I imagine you will fit both of these terms)

This is good news, thanks for the reply