Porting

Porting is paying off an existing mortgage and taking out a new one with the same terms on a new property. This allows your client to keep their current interest rate and related product features.

In this section we cover:

Tip:

For descriptions and examples of porting that you can share with your clients, check Nationwide’s porting page.

Product information and criteria

Not all products can be ported. Check your client’s original offer letter to confirm their mortgage is portable.

If your client wants to borrow more than their existing balance, they'll need to choose a product from our current range. This may have a different rate.

When you submit a porting application, you can change the term of your client’s mortgage, subject to criteria. Your client can also port from a joint mortgage to a single mortgage, or vice versa.

High LTV porting

If the LTV is higher than 85% some restrictions apply:

Porting an interest only or part & part mortgage

  • If your client has an interest only or part & part mortgage, they can keep the interest only amount they owe when their mortgage product is ported, but they must have an acceptable mortgage repayment strategy in place.
  • Any additional borrowing must be from our current product range, on a capital and interest repayment basis.
  • If your client has an interest only product and wants to increase their interest only borrowing, please speak to your BDM.
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Early repayment charges (ERCs) and other costs

Your client won’t have to pay ERCs when they port the full balance of their existing mortgage to a new property.

If your client wants to borrow less than the outstanding amount on their existing mortgage, the difference must be repaid on completion of the new loan, and ERCs may apply to this amount.

For example, if your client owes £100,000 on the existing property and they want to borrow £80,000 on the new mortgage product for the new property, they'll need to pay ERCs on £20,000.

When we calculate ERCs, we treat a partial port the same way as an overpayment. Using the example above, if your client is not porting £20,000, but they have an unused overpayment allowance for the year of £10,000, we'll only charge an ERC on the £10,000 difference.

Tip:

The redemption statement we send to your client will show ERCs that are part of the mortgage product, even if they are not payable. Your client’s solicitor will need to remove these before sending the redemption payment through to us.

Fees

There are no product or booking fees on like for like or partial porting. Your client will need to pay the fee if they choose a product with a fee for any additional borrowing.

Overpayments

Any overpayment of an ERC or other fees will be refunded. If the borrowers have changed, the refund will be sent to the solicitor. If the borrowers are the same, the refund will be sent to the bank details provided on the account being redeemed.

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Delayed purchases

When porting, we usually expect the sale and purchase transactions to complete on the same day. However, we understand there could be delays in the completion of a purchase, or your client may not have found a new property yet.

If your client must redeem their existing mortgage prior to completion of their new mortgage, they'll need to pay any ERCs on redemption.

  • If we’ve already produced a mortgage offer, we'll continue to process your client’s application. The new property purchase must complete within the offer validity period, with no material changes to the offer.
  • If we've not produced a mortgage offer or material changes are required, your client will have up to 180 days from the redemption date to reach completion. However, a paper application will be required in these cases.

Any ERCs due to be returned will be refunded within 5 working days of completion on the new mortgage. If the borrowers have changed from the original mortgage, the refund will be sent to the solicitor. If the borrowers are the same, the refund will be sent to the bank details provided on the redeemed account.

If your client cannot complete on their new property within 180 days of redeeming their original mortgage, the porting facility will be lost. You'll need to submit a new application for a product in our current range. This does not guarantee we'll accept a future application. Any ERCs paid will not be refunded.

The original product term will pause at redemption and restart on completion. This means that the original product end date will extend by the number of days between redemption and completion.

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Porting application process

You can produce a DIP or Mortgage Illustration for ported cases and submit most applications via NFI Online. Only home mover or second property home mover applications can be used for porting. 

Before applying, be sure that

  • The client’s personal details on their existing account are accurate and up to date.
  • Their existing account is no more than one month in arrears.
  • Your client understands that the amount to be ported will not go down based on payments they make on their existing account between applying to port and completion of the new purchase.

You'll need a paper mortgage application form for certain types of porting:

  • Non-simultaneous porting
  • 25 year fixed rate
  • 5 or more accounts with no additional borrowing
  • 4 or more accounts with further borrowing
  • Client will be more than 75 years old at the end of the term of the ported mortgage (like for like applications only).
  • 3 or more clients (like for like applications only).

To submit a paper application, you'll need to contact our technical support team to obtain a ticket reference number. 

You'll then need to email the full application to mso.rekeys@nationwide.co.uk or post it to: 

Nationwide Building Society (IPA)
Northampton Service Centre
Kings Park Road
Moulton Park
Northampton
NN3 6NW

We'll send you a Mortgage Illustration for these applications by fax or post within 48 hours, if we receive the form by 3pm.

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