Transfer of equity on a TSB mortgage
What changes on the title, what the lender has to agree to, and what has to be in place before a transfer involving a TSB mortgage can complete.
- Topic
- Transfer of equity
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- 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 means here
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.
The general position on transfer of equity is the same across the market. What differs is the lender's own requirement, and that sits in Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook rather than in general guidance.
What has to be in place
Lender consent
A transfer of equity on a mortgaged property cannot proceed without the lender agreeing to the change in the people bound by the mortgage. Consent is the gating item, not a formality at the end.
Release or joinder
An outgoing owner is released from the covenants only if the lender agrees to release them. Absent that, they stay liable on a mortgage secured on a property they no longer own.
Consideration and SDLT
Where the incoming party takes on a share of the mortgage debt, that assumption of debt is chargeable consideration for stamp duty land tax even if no money changes hands.
Occupiers
Anyone aged 18 or over who will occupy and is not a borrower will normally be required to sign a consent postponing any interest to the mortgage.
Registration
The transfer and any deed of variation to the charge are applied for together at HM Land Registry, so the register reflects both the new ownership and the mortgage as varied.
Where a lender’s instructions to your solicitor come from
A conveyancer acting on a mortgage is acting for two clients at once, and the lender’s half of the instructions is a published document: the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook. It is the reason your solicitor asks for things that seem to have nothing to do with you.
Part 1
The same for every lender
- The general instructions that apply across the industry: what has to be investigated, what has to be reported, and what the certificate of title commits the firm to.
- Changes rarely, and changes are published.
Part 2
TSB’s own answers
- Where the lender sets its own position: what it accepts on indemnity policies, on new-build warranties, on occupiers and on much else.
- Amended by the lender without notice, which is why nothing on this site reproduces it.
Check the current version before relying on any requirement described anywhere, including here.
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.
What to confirm with TSB rather than assume
Part 2 of the Handbook carries each lender's own requirements and its overrides of Part 1, and it is amended without notice. These are the points where the answer is TSB's rather than general practice:
- Whether a new mortgage offer is needed or the existing charge can be varied
- Whether the outgoing party is released from the covenants, and on what terms
- Which form of consent the lender accepts from adult occupiers
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 TSB.