Adding or removing someone from a property
Putting a partner on the title, or taking a former one off, is a transfer of equity. Without a mortgage it is a conveyancing job. With one, the lender is a party to the outcome.
Why the lender has a say
A mortgage is a contract with named people. Changing who is on the title changes who is bound by it, and that is something the lender agrees to rather than something it is told about. Lenders set their own criteria, and those criteria differ enough that one lender’s answer is not a guide to another’s.
A lender will also normally require the work to be done by a firm it has approved, which is the same panel that governs a purchase or a remortgage.
The four questions worth settling early
Will the lender agree
Consent is the gating item. A lender declining to release an outgoing owner changes what is possible, not just what it costs.
Is anyone being released
Someone who comes off the title is released from the mortgage covenants only if the lender agrees to release them. Where it does not, they stay liable on a mortgage secured on a property they no longer own.
Is stamp duty in play
Taking on a share of the outstanding mortgage debt counts as consideration for stamp duty land tax, so a transfer where no money changes hands can still be notifiable. The figures turn on the debt assumed and on the buyer’s own circumstances, which makes this a question for your conveyancer rather than something to estimate.
Who else lives there
An adult occupier who is not on the mortgage is normally asked to sign a consent postponing any interest to the lender’s charge. Routine, and easier to arrange early than at completion.
Separation, and the order things happen in
Where a transfer follows a separation, the sequence matters more than usual. A court order dealing with the property does not by itself release anyone from the mortgage: only the lender can do that. Agreeing a transfer that the lender has not agreed to is a common and expensive way to reach a standstill.
Written as general information for England and Wales, not as advice on an individual matter. Where a lender’s own requirement applies, it sits in Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook, which lenders amend without notice.