Home mover
Moving is two transactions pretending to be one.
You are selling and buying at the same time, with a mortgage that may or may not come with you and a chain of strangers who all have their own solicitor. The mortgage is the part we can make certain. Here is how.
The first decision: port it or break it
Most mortgages taken out in the last decade are portable, which means you can take your existing rate to the new property instead of paying to leave it. Whether you should is a genuine calculation, not a default.
| Port the existing deal | New mortgage, new lender | |
|---|---|---|
| Early repayment charge | Avoided | Payable, often 1% to 5% of the balance |
| Your rate | Keeps the old rate on the old amount | Whatever the market offers today |
| Borrowing more | Extra borrowing is a second sub-account, usually at today's rate | One clean loan at one rate |
| Re-underwriting | Yes, fully. Porting is not automatic | Yes, fully |
| Best when | Your existing rate is below today's market and the charge to leave is real | Your rate is above the market, or the charge has expired |
The trap in porting
Porting is not a right you can rely on. You have to re-apply and pass the lender's current criteria, on today's income and today's credit file - and criteria have tightened since many people took their deal out. If your circumstances have changed, especially if you have gone self-employed or taken on new debt, check that porting will actually be granted before you build a plan around it.
Buying before you have sold
It happens constantly: you find the right house before your buyer materialises. There are three routes, in rising order of cost.
- Sell first, then rent or stay with family. Unromantic, and it makes you a cash-ready buyer with no chain, which is worth real money at the negotiating table.
- Let to buy. Remortgage your current home onto a buy-to-let, release equity from it as a deposit, and keep it as a rental. Two mortgages, two sets of criteria, and you will pay the 5% stamp duty surcharge on the new purchase - though if you sell the old home within three years you can usually reclaim it.
- Bridging finance. Short-term, secured, and expensive - monthly interest rather than annual, plus arrangement fees. It works when the exit is certain and imminent. It is dangerous when the exit is a hope. We will tell you honestly which one you have.
What moving actually costs
| Cost | Usual range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Estate agent | 1% - 1.8% + VAT | Negotiable, especially on a higher value property. Sole agency is cheaper than multi-agency. |
| Stamp duty | Standard rates | No first-time buyer relief. 5% surcharge if you will own two properties at the end of completion day. |
| Two lots of legal work | £1,800 - £3,000 | You are selling and buying, so there are two files. |
| Early repayment charge | 1% - 5% of balance | Only if you break a deal early and do not port it. |
| Removals | £600 - £2,500 | More with packing, a long distance or a completion date in August. |
| EPC | £60 - £120 | Legally required before you market the property. |
Timing, honestly
A straightforward chain of two or three takes eight to sixteen weeks from offer accepted to completion. The mortgage is rarely the bottleneck: a formal offer typically arrives two to four weeks after a complete application. What takes the time is searches, enquiries between solicitors, and one person in the chain who is not answering emails.
What you can control: get your mortgage agreed early, instruct a solicitor the day your offer is accepted rather than the week after, and return every document the same day it is asked for. Chains fail from drift far more often than from disaster.
Common questions
Moving home questions
Can I borrow more when I port?
Usually yes, but the extra is treated as a separate sub-account at whatever rate is available now, often with its own end date. That leaves you with two rates ending at different times, which is awkward later. Sometimes it is cleaner to pay the early repayment charge and take one new mortgage. We model both and show you the total cost over the period, not just the monthly payment.
My new house is cheaper. Do I get money back?
If you are downsizing and repaying part of the mortgage, the lender may charge an early repayment charge on the amount you are paying off, even though you are porting the rest. Many lenders allow a 10% annual overpayment that can absorb some of it. Worth checking the exact wording of your offer before you commit to a downsize.
What if my buyer pulls out after I have exchanged on the purchase?
This is why chains exchange on the same day. Never exchange on a purchase before you have exchanged on your sale unless you have a funded, agreed plan for completing without the sale money - which in practice means bridging. If somebody is pressuring you to exchange out of sync, call us before you sign anything.
How long is my mortgage offer valid?
Typically three to six months from issue, depending on the lender. If your chain drags beyond it, extensions are often possible but not guaranteed, and the lender may re-check your credit and employment. If a completion date starts slipping towards your expiry, tell us early rather than late.
Start here
Work out whether to port or switch.
Send us your current lender, rate, balance and end date. We will tell you what the early repayment charge really is and whether breaking it is worth doing.
- The first conversation is free
- No credit check, no hard search
- A reply within one working day
Prefer to talk now? Call 0333 339 7301 or email [email protected].