According to the HM Land Registry, the average property price during 2019 in the UK was £232,944. As a consequence, most people need to get a mortgage in order to be able to buy their home.
Mortgages usually last for many years, but life is not usually so plain. Thus, one of the most common doubts about mortgages is if it is possible to change the name on the property deeds when you have a mortgage.
The answer is “yes, you can,” but you need to keep several things in mind.
There could be many reasons to change the name on the deed. For example, the death of one person, in which case it is relatively easy to change the name on the property deeds, but also if there has been a divorce or if the co-titulars in the deeds just agree to do it.
The main important aspect to keep in mind is that ownership and mortgage are not the same. If you have a mortgage, get divorced, and agree that your former spouse will keep the full ownership, you will still be responsible for paying the mortgage.
You can solve this by having the new owner rearrange the mortgage with the lender, so they do a new contract with the right names on it. However, this could give the bank some rights like the possibility to ask for full repayment. If that is the case, in most cases you could do it with the money you get from the sale of the house or from the new mortgage.
Sometimes, it is easy to ask the financial institution to just add the new name to the mortgage. They will want to check the credit record of the new person and reassess the agreement. But if they accept it, everything with your mortgage will be more straightforward. Keep in mind that they may charge you a fee in order to make the checks.
Once everything is clear about the mortgage, you can ask for the name change on the HM Land Registry. You will have to choose between two forms: “transfer of whole of registered title” or “transfer of part of registered title.”
It is likely that as a result of the new name on the deed, the person that now appears on it needs to pay the stamp duty. One has fourteen days after completion to send the SDLT return to HMRC and pay the tax.
If you think all these requirements and obligations are too complicated, contact us now, and we can assist you with completing the process hassle-free.
Please view our frequently asked questions to get more answers to questions you may have on naming your property.
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