“If you are planning to purchase a new home, there are many potential options available to finance your move. If you have a fixed rate mortgage, your first step is to investigate whether you can port this to your new home. Porting your mortgage can be the quickest and most cost-efficient way of purchasing your new property. We at The Mortgage Broker Ltd can make this process stress free for you and support you until you receive the keys to your new home.”
Nadine Tippell
Sales Manager
The Mortgage Broker (London) Limited
If you’re thinking about taking the next step on the property ladder soon, you may not need to change mortgage deals when you move from your existing home to your new one. Porting your mortgage is a possibility, and one that is worth thinking about.
What happens if you try porting your mortgage with Santander?
In some cases, porting a mortgage may not be possible. There is no reason or rule that says Santander must port your mortgage if you ask, so you can stay on your existing deal.
For starters, you might need to borrow more money to be able to buy the new property you’ve got your eye on. If so, unless you have a larger deposit to meet the difference between your existing mortgage and the property price, you’ll need to know whether Santander is willing to lend you the higher amount. Even if they are willing, they may not allow you to stay on your current deal.
It’s also important to recognise that Santander will perform a credit check. Even if you flew through the credit check with flying colours when you originally took out your mortgage, you may have experienced changes since then. Those financial changes could mean your credit score has dipped. This might be enough for Santander to potentially reject you.
Finally, there is no guarantee that you can hang onto the interest rate originally agreed upon with Santander. They may assess the situation and decide to offer a higher rate. They do not need to agree to continue the terms.
Should you approach Santander for advice?
If you approach Santander direct, you may decide to go into your local branch, arrange an appointment, and discuss the situation with someone there. A phone call to their customer service department may seem easier and faster, as you might find you need to wait for an in-person appointment. However, if you’ve ever negotiated an automated message when calling any customer service department, you’ll know it isn’t always easy to get through to the person you want to speak with. Even if you reach the right department, you could be held in a queue for a long time… time you may not have when you consider your other responsibilities in life.
Even if we assume you speak with someone, they agree to port your mortgage with Santander, and it all goes ahead smoothly, you still need to sort out other elements of the moving process, such as conveyancing. Add this to the practical process of moving and you can see there is a lot to think about.
Is it better to use a broker?
If time is short and you need professional advice, The Mortgage Broker Ltd can contact Santander on your behalf and find out where you stand. You’ll always deal with the same point of contact here too, so you’ll always speak to the same person whenever you call.
We’ll find out whether Santander can port your mortgage, keeping you apprised of the situation throughout. If you can port your mortgage over when you move home, you can be sure we’ll handle the procedure on your behalf. You can get on with handling the other practicalities of moving in the meantime.
And if Santander doesn’t agree to mortgage porting, we’ll take you through the alternatives. You can count on our extensive knowledge of the mortgage market to help you source a solution, no matter what situation you’re in or which mortgage you have now. Our brokers can always find a plan B – and usually a plan C and beyond as well.
Get in touch with our brokers to help with Santander mortgage porting
Let one of our qualified and experienced brokers step in to help you. We’re rated 4.9 out of 5 by customers on Trustpilot, amassing over 2,000 reviews in the process of helping people just like you seek expert mortgage advice. With extensive experience in mortgage porting, we’ll either smooth the path to completing this process with Santander or find an alternative that works for you.
First Time Buyers Guide