Your existing lender may agree to allow you to port your existing mortgage product to a new property.
When you sell your existing home and are looking at buying a new one, you will still need to apply for a new mortgage. This is because the loan itself does not transfer over to a new property, only the interest rate and the terms and conditions of your current product transfers over to the new property.
You will still need to go through the lenders affordability assessments, valuations, and legal processes for the new purchase, but by porting the existing product, you would not have to pay any penalties for redeeming the mortgage on your existing property early.
As part of the moving process, your existing mortgage is paid off in full and a new mortgage is taken out against the new property. Porting will allow you to remain with the same lender, keep your current product and apply for any additional ‘top up’ loan needed to complete the purchase of your new home.
A ‘top up’ loan is usually an additional borrowing amount above and beyond the amount to be ported and will sit as a separate mortgage part on a different product from the lenders current offering. This scenario is more common, when the new property is more expensive than the current property and requires a mortgage higher than the amount to be ported. Availability of any additional top up borrowing will depend on your lenders affordability criteria and your personal income/circumstances at the time.