Moving home mortgage basics

Moving home should be an exciting time in your life. But to make your dream home a reality – and to ensure it’s affordable once you get there – it’s crucial that you get the right mortgage deal.

Generally, you’ll need to have at least 5 or 10 per cent of the purchase price to put down as a deposit on your new property – which you’ll hopefully be able to raise through the sale of your existing property. However, if you’ve not got much equity in your home, you may need to top up with your savings to secure the mortgage you need.

Mortgages to move house

Assuming you can raise that deposit, the next step is to consider which mortgage is right for you. It makes sense to take impartial advice from an expert such as Which? Mortgage Advisers, who can help run you through all the available loans that suit your needs.

Most mortgages these days are portable, meaning that you can transfer them from the property that you originally borrowed against to the home to which you want to move. Lenders will want to value the property – and you may need to borrow more to secure it. There may also be fees to pay for the transfer. A few hundred pounds is typical to port a mortgage to a new property.

Moving your mortgage

Moving home, however, is often an opportunity to look around for a better mortgage deal. Like any remortgage you should start by checking whether there are any penalties to pay on your existing home loan. In particular, there are likely to be fees and additional interest charges if you’re still in the special offer period of the loan – on a fixed or discounted deal rather than the lender’s standard variable rate.

In order to be better off by moving mortgage provider, you will need to find a deal that is sufficiently cheap to cover the cost of these penalties. That’s not impossible, though it will be easier to save money if your current deal is penalty-free.

Mortgages for those moving home are increasingly competitive, with variable rates starting at around 3 per cent and fixed rates currently priced a little higher. Compare typical moving home mortgage rates.

But don’t forget to consider the impact of arrangement fees and other charges lenders may levy – these will typically be added to the mortgage value, but will add to the headline rate of interest payable.

Speak to an impartial mortgage adviser

To assess your moving home options, speak to a Which? mortgage adviser by calling us on 0117 981 7787 – or request a call back. Our advisers look at every mortgage from every available lender and because they’re paid a salary –not a sales commission – you can have confidence that you’ll receive truly impartial advice.