What does porting a mortgage mean?
Porting is where you move your existing mortgage, along with its current interest rate, remaining term, and outstanding balance, from your current property to a new one. It is not a legal right. It is a feature that many lenders offer, though not all of them do.
In practice you are applying for the same mortgage on a different property. The lender still reassesses your affordability and values the new place, so approval is never a given.
Can you port any mortgage?
Not every mortgage is portable. Whether yours can move depends on your lender and the specific terms of your product. Your mortgage offer document will say, or you can ask your lender directly.
Even when porting is on offer, the lender can attach conditions. The new property has to meet their lending criteria, and you will need to pass a fresh affordability assessment. If your situation has shifted, through a lower income, new debts, or credit problems, the port can still be turned down.
Don’t assume your mortgage is portable
Some products rule porting out completely, and certain lenders, including some building societies and specialist lenders, do not offer it at all. Always confirm with your lender before you build any plans around porting.
Porting to a more expensive property
When the new property costs more than your current one, you will need to borrow extra on top of the mortgage you are porting. That additional borrowing is usually set up as a separate loan, sometimes called a “top-up”, which can sit at a different interest rate.
Say you are porting a £200,000 mortgage at 3.5% and need another £80,000. The top-up might come at the lender’s current rate of 4.5%, which leaves you with two loans running side by side on the same property.
The lender assesses your affordability across the total borrowing, which is £280,000 here. If the figures do not stack up, they can refuse the additional borrowing even when they are happy to port the original amount.
Porting to a cheaper property
If you are downsizing or moving somewhere cheaper, you will need to repay part of your mortgage. That partial repayment can trigger an early repayment charge on the amount you pay off, even though you are porting the rest.
Say you are porting a £250,000 mortgage but only need £180,000 on the new property. You would repay £70,000. With an ERC of 3%, that is a charge of £2,100 on the repaid portion. The remaining £180,000 carries on at your existing rate with nothing to pay.
What are the pros and cons of porting?
Porting is the right move in some cases and the wrong one in others. Here is how the two sides stack up.
| Advantages of porting | Disadvantages of porting |
|---|---|
| You avoid paying ERCs on your full mortgage balance | You are tied to whatever your current lender will offer |
| You keep a rate that may beat anything on offer today | Any top-up borrowing may come at a higher rate |
| You stay with a lender you already know | You still have to pass a fresh affordability check |
| With some lenders, no legal fees or valuation costs on the ported portion | A better overall deal may exist elsewhere, even once you have paid the ERC |
Porting vs remortgaging: which is better?
It comes down to the numbers. Sometimes paying an ERC and remortgaging onto a cheaper rate across the whole balance beats porting at the old rate and paying more on the top-up.
A broker can run both scenarios and show you the total cost over the remaining term. That covers ERCs, arrangement fees, legal costs, and the gap in monthly payments. The comparison is often closer than people expect.
Ask your broker to run a “port vs remortgage” comparison, setting out the total cost of each option over 2, 5, and 10 years. Once you can see the full picture, the right choice tends to be obvious.
How to check if your mortgage is portable
Start with your original mortgage offer document, which should state whether porting is allowed under the product terms. If you cannot lay your hands on it, call your lender’s customer service line and ask outright.
A broker can also check this for you and, if porting is available, judge whether it really is your best option next to the alternatives on the open market.
Get expert advice on porting your mortgage
At Clearview Mortgage Solutions we will review your current deal, check whether porting is available, and weigh it against the best remortgage options on the market. You will see the numbers for both paths, so the decision is an informed one.
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation porting review.