Transfer of equity: general practice, and Metro Bank's own position
This page says which Part 2 question holds Metro Bank's answer on transfer of equity. It does not reproduce the answer, because a stale copy is worse than none.
- Topic
- Transfer of equity
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Metro Bank Part 2 last changed
- 2026
- Years with a change
- 10 of the 10 to 2026
- Handbook
- UK Finance · Part 1 & 2
Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook is amended by lenders without notice. Check the current version before relying on any requirement described here.
What transfer of equity is, on a Metro Bank matter
A change in the people named on the title where at least one of the existing owners stays: adding a spouse, removing a former partner, or transferring a share. Where a mortgage is in place the lender must consent, and the lender’s own requirements govern how it is done.
Two things decide how transfer of equity goes: the general law, which is settled, and the lender's requirement, which is not, and which the lender can change between the offer and completion.
Worth keeping in view throughout: on a mortgaged matter the firm answers to the borrower and to Metro Bank at the same time. Most of the friction in transfer of equity comes from those two sets of instructions asking for slightly different things.
What a Metro Bank panel firm has to have in place
Who ends up bound by the mortgage
This is the question the whole transaction turns on. The title can be transferred between anyone; the mortgage covenants cannot, and the lender decides who is released and who is added. Nothing else in the file can be settled until that is.
What happens to the person leaving
Coming off the title does not come off the debt. Unless the lender executes a release, an outgoing owner remains personally liable on a mortgage secured against a house they no longer have any interest in, which is the worst outcome available and the one clients least expect.
The tax nobody budgeted for
Taking on a share of the outstanding mortgage counts as consideration for stamp duty land tax, so a transfer where not a penny changes hands can still be notifiable and chargeable. Establish it early: it is easier to explain before completion than after.
Adults living there who are not borrowing
Any occupier of eighteen or over who is not on the mortgage will usually have to sign a form postponing whatever interest they might have to the lender's charge. Identify them at the outset rather than chasing signatures in the closing week.
Getting both changes onto the register
The transfer and any variation of the charge go to HM Land Registry as one application, so the register shows the new owners and the mortgage as varied at the same moment rather than in two steps with a gap between them.
How often Metro Bank moves the answers above
"Check the current version" is easy advice to skip. These figures are how much skipping it would have cost on Metro Bank over the last decade.
Counted from the Lexsure Part 2 change record. Metro Bank has changed its Part 2 in 10 of the 10 years to 2026, most recently in 2026. Counted from the Lexsure Part 2 change record. A lender that revises Part 2 often is not a worse lender than one that leaves it alone: what the figure describes is how far you can rely on what applied last time.
Acting for you and for Metro Bank at the same time
Much of what a solicitor asks for on a Metro Bank matter is asked on the lender's behalf rather than on yours. The document that decides which questions those are is the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook, and it is public.
Part 1
The settled half
- A single document covering what has to be investigated on any mortgage matter, and what has to be reported back before funds are released.
- It moves slowly and in public, so a change to it is news rather than a surprise.
Knowing Part 1 tells a conveyancer how the work is done, not what this particular lender wants.
Part 2
The half Metro Bank controls
- Metro Bank sets its own position here on the points Part 1 hands to it, and can revise that position whenever it decides to.
- A requirement that applied on the last matter may not apply on this one, and there is no notice period in which to notice.
This is the half worth checking on the day rather than remembering.
A conveyancer who acted on a Metro Bank matter last year may or may not be working from current requirements. The years below are what decides that.
Part 2 changes have been recorded for Metro Bank in every year since 2013. A run that reaches the present is the case for reading the current version rather than working from the last matter, and it is the reason this site monitors Part 2 instead of reprinting it.
Counting the amendments rather than the years: Metro Bank has made 693 changes to Part 2 sections since 2017, 14 of them in 2026. One amendment can touch several sections, so this counts section changes rather than distinct sections, and revisions that moved nothing but the document’s own date are left out.
Counted from the Lexsure Part 2 change record supplied on 3 August 2026, which holds the years a lender’s Part 2 was amended rather than what any amendment said. 2026 is a part year, because the extract was taken partway through it. A lender that revises Part 2 often is not a worse lender than one that leaves it alone: what these figures describe is how far a conveyancer can rely on what applied last time, which is why the current version is the one to check.
This site says which Part 2 question holds a lender-specific answer rather than reprinting the answer. A stale copy of a requirement, on a page someone acts on, is worse than no copy.
Check these with Metro Bank before you rely on them
These are worth putting to Metro Bank in writing rather than inferring from the last matter. Part 2 is where its answers live, and it can be amended between one file and the next:
- Whether this is treated as a variation of the existing charge or a fresh application
- Whether the outgoing owner is released, and whether that release is unconditional
- The occupier consent form the lender will accept, and whether it needs independent advice
- Whether any early repayment charge is triggered by the change
We do not reproduce Part 2 here. It is lender-specific, it changes without notice, and a stale copy of it on a page a conveyancer relies on is worse than no copy at all. LM04 tracks those changes.
Acting on this lender’s instructions
Panel membership decides whether a firm can act at all. LenderPanel maintains the directory borrowers search when choosing a conveyancer, including for Metro Bank.