Moving home mortgages

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Yes, you can, as you're not changing your mortgage if you choose to port it. This is simply transferring your existing deal to your new property. However, you won't avoid affordability and credit checks and the new home will still need to undergo valuation.

Porting typically allows you to keep the mortgage interest rate that you locked in when you bought your home, which in most cases, will be more competitive than those available in the current market.

It depends on whether you need to borrow more (or less) money when you move into your new home. If you’re porting your mortgage on the same terms, your repayments will usually stay the same, but it’s not very common to find a new home that's valued at the exact same cost as your current one, so it’s a good idea to expect at least some change in your repayments.

When you move house, the equity in your current home (what you own, versus the value of the property) can be used as the deposit for any new mortgage deal you take out. This means you don’t typically have to save up a deposit as you would if you were a first-time buyer. 

You can improve your LTV (loan to value) ratio by using additional savings to boost your deposit. But you may also need to use a cash deposit alongside your equity if it's not sufficient to meet the lender’s minimum LTV requirements.

You can sometimes increase your borrowing when you port your mortgage, although you will need to meet the lending criteria for the larger loan. Some lenders will want you to take the increased loan as a separate mortgage, which means that you could end up with two mortgages at two different mortgage rates with the same lender.

In this case it may be easier to remortgage onto a new home mover product. This way you can apply for the additional borrowing and repay your existing mortgage with one mortgage. Of course, you will still need to meet the affordability criteria with the new lender.

An agreement in principle likely won’t be as important when moving house as you're showing serious intent as a buyer simply by having listed your own property for sale. It can, however, be helpful to know what sort of loan you could get if you’re upsizing to a new home, as this will help save the disappointment of making an offer on a house that you cannot realistically afford.

It can do, although this is more likely if you move house regularly, as living in one place for a long time is seen as a sign of stability. It can also take time to be reinstated on the electoral roll at your new address, meaning creditors can’t use the list to verify your identity for a short time.

Another way that moving house could potentially impact your credit file is if you make multiple applications for a mortgage deal before being accepted. This is because every lender will carry out a credit search and multiple searches over a short period of time can reduce your score. 

A mortgage broker can help you to avoid the latter by ensuring you approach a lender whose criteria you are most likely to meet.

It depends whether you are porting your mortgage or taking out a new home mover mortgage. If you're porting, some lenders will allow you to porting within a designated time frame, although this is typically 30 days. If you think it's going to take longer to sell your existing home then is may be easier to opt for a new mortgage deal. This way a mutually agreeable completion date can be arranged.