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HELPFUL INFORMATION

When your agreed mortgage deal comes to an end, you could end up paying a higher rate, known as the standard variable rate, or SVR. This means you’ll end up paying a higher interest rate than you need to, so  This will always be a higher interest rate than others on the market, so it’s usually a good time to look into remortgaging.

We will start researching your remortgage options up to 3 months before your deal comes to an end, meaning we should have a new mortgage offer in place ready to start when your current deal finishes.

This is also a great time to consider staircasing (see the next explainer). If you have any questions about remortgaging we’re always happy to help.

If you own a Shared Ownership home, ‘staircasing’ is the word that describes the process of purchasing more shares of your home. This can be done up to 100% (where the HA allows) or in smaller increments.

You can choose to staircase at any time, but it would usually be sensible to do this when your mortgage deal comes to an end, so you don’t have to pay ERCs. You will need to contact your Housing Association to gain approval to staircase. As part of this they will need to arrange a RICs surveyor to value your home. Your HA team will explain all this to you, and will be on hand to help you through it.

You will then purchase your new shares in the property at the new property purchase value. As your shares in the property increase, the rent you are paying will decrease to reflect this.

Sometimes Housing Associations put limits on the level that you are allowed to staircase to, i.e. the amount of the property you will be allowed to purchase in total. This limit might be 80% for example.

Not all Shared Ownership properties have these restrictions, your Housing Association will let you know if there are any restrictions in your case so always check with them first.

Well, firstly, contact us – let us have a look at the options with you.

It might be that you have ERCs (see next explainer), or it might be that you can port your mortgage (put simply – moving your mortgage to a new address).

We can help you answer all of these questions.

If you have a Shared Ownership home, you will need to inform your Housing Association if you want to move. There may be a clause in your contract that says you have to give them a period of time to find a buyer on your behalf before you can put the property up for sale on the local market.

The property will also need to valued at the point you wish to sell.

These are charges you will have to pay to your lender if you choose to come out of your mortgage early. Either because you want to sell the house, or you want to pay off all, or some, of the mortgage you owe. Sometimes you can make overpayments without penalty – be sure to ask your adviser about this.