Remortgaging

An increasing number of people are now choosing to remortgage their properties rather than moving home. Remortgaging is the process whereby you decide to repay your existing mortgage and take out a replacement mortgage with a different lender or mortgage company. Usually the new mortgage will be for a larger amount so that you can have extra money available, although it is also popular to remortgage to get more favourable interest rates from the new lender.

When you instruct us on a remortgage we will ask you to complete a questionnaire that will give us more details about your property and your circumstances. In particular, we will need details of your current mortgage in order that we can obtain the Title Register. Since you already live in the property, hopefully you will have all the information we will need. If you have extended or altered the property we will need copies of any Planning Consents and Approvals that relate to these works.

When we receive a copy of the Title Register we will check them on behalf of your new lender. The names of the owners on the Title Register must be the same as the names on the new mortgage so you must tell us if the names have changed (for example if the property was bought in a wife’s maiden name) or if an additional person is being added to the deeds.

In order to comply with money laundering regulations, we are obliged to check your identity. We will send a Client Identification Form to you and ask you to provide documentation to comply with the regulations. We will also undertake an electronic identity check.

Many lenders will require us to carry out searches against your property. This can be frustrating since you already live in the property but unfortunately this will probably be the first time your lender has dealt with your home. We will check with the new lender and where possible will avoid unnecessary searches.

The new lender will send you and us a written Mortgage Offer which you should check carefully as you will have to comply with any conditions imposed by the lender. You may need to give us a copy of your existing buildings insurance policy so please check this is available. This may need to be amended so that it includes details of your new lender.

You will need to sign the new Mortgage Deed. Some lenders may require you to do this in front of a solicitor and we would be happy to see you during normal office hours. We will need to see copies of your passports as proof of your identity.

When the new Offer has been made in writing and any necessary search results received, we will agree with you a completion date which is when we will repay your existing mortgage and obtain the new mortgage.

We will provide you with a financial statement. If the amount you are borrowing on the new loan is less than the amount owing on the existing loan plus costs and search fees, you will need to give us the balance four days before completion.

If you have borrowed sufficient on the new loan to cover the cost of repaying the existing loan and any search and legal fees, (as is more usual), we will pay off your old mortgage and pay you any surplus on the completion date.

We will then arrange for the Land Registry to amend the Title Register to reflect any change in ownership details (if you have married, for example) and to remove the old mortgage details and replace them with details of your new lender.