Paying off your mortgage when you sell: the redemption statement

Paying off your mortgage at a glance

What does a redemption statement show, line by line?

A redemption statement is your lender’s own account of what it needs to close the mortgage on one date. Layouts differ by lender, but most show the same parts. This is how Leeds Building Society explains the lines on its statement (example layout). Other lenders use similar headings.

Leeds says that if you repay on a different date, the payment is recalculated with the daily interest figure, or you can ask for an amended statement, and that a new statement is needed if you do not repay in the calendar month shown. Leeds says any overpayment, such as a direct debit taken after completion, is refunded to you within 10 working days.

Your redemption statement usually also says how the lender will clear its charge from the register, for example by an electronic discharge or an e-DS1 sent online.

Why does the date you complete change what you repay?

Two parts of the redemption figure depend on the day the lender is repaid.

• Interest runs to the day. The statement adds interest up to its redemption date, plus a daily figure for each extra day. If completion moves back a week, you owe a week’s more interest.
• The early repayment charge depends on the date. An ERC applies if you repay in full before your fixed or special rate period ends. A completion date one day before the end date can cost the whole charge. Your offer shows the maximum ERC. FCA rules say an ERC on a regulated mortgage must be able to be shown as a cash sum, and must be a reasonable pre-estimate of the lender’s costs when you repay early.

So check the ERC end date in your mortgage offer before you agree a completion date. Once contracts are exchanged, the completion date is fixed and binding on both sides, and moving it needs the buyer’s agreement.

If you will keep the mortgage for your next home, you may be able to port it instead of repaying it. Whether a port waives or refunds the ERC is the lender’s rule.

Buy-to-let mortgages are usually not regulated by the FCA, so these rules do not apply. The charge should still be clearly set out in your loan agreement.

What do lenders charge to close a mortgage?

Apart from any ERC, some lenders charge a fee to close the account. These are the published charges of three of the lenders whose panels we are on, checked on 29 October 2026. Lenders change their tariffs, so your own offer and statement decide.

We are on these lenders’ conveyancing panels (checked 29 October 2026). Lenders can change their panels, so we confirm when you instruct.

An exit fee is the lender’s charge, not ours. It is paid out of the sale money as part of the redemption figure. Leeds Building Society’s sample statement (example layout) shows both an exit fee and a deeds fee as separate lines.

Whether to repay, port or switch your mortgage is a decision for you and your lender or a mortgage adviser.

Who asks for the redemption statement, and when?

We do, once you have instructed us and the buyer’s solicitor is asking their questions. We ask your lender for a redemption statement, so we know exactly what is needed to pay off your mortgage.

On completion day the buyer’s money reaches us. We repay your lender and send you the balance, after any payments you have agreed we make from it.

The buyer’s solicitor needs to know your mortgage will be cleared, because the buyer cannot take the home with your lender’s charge still on it. Your conveyancer usually gives a written promise, called an undertaking, to repay the lender and send proof once it is done. The lender then clears its charge from the register with a DS1 or an e-DS1.

What if the sale price will not cover the mortgage?

Your lender’s charge has to be removed on completion for the buyer to get the home free of it. If the sale price, less your costs, is less than the redemption figure, the gap has to be found from somewhere else, such as your savings. Some lenders will agree to release their charge for less and keep the rest as an unsecured debt, but that is the lender’s decision.

Ask your lender for a redemption statement and work out the figures before you accept an offer, not after exchange. If the gap is large, speak to your lender first.

Does paying off a mortgage work differently in Wales?

The mortgage side is the same. HM Land Registry keeps the register for England and Wales, so the lender clears its charge in the same way, and the redemption statement works the same. What differs:

• Help to Buy. Wales has its own scheme, Help to Buy – Wales, with an “Equity Mortgage”. It must be repaid within 25 years, you appoint your own RICS valuer to confirm the market value, and a part repayment must leave at least 5% of the market value. Its rules are on gov.wales, not GOV.UK. The England scheme is in repaying a Help to Buy equity loan.
• Buying next. If you are buying another home in Wales, the tax on that purchase is Land Transaction Tax, not Stamp Duty: Land Transaction Tax calculator.

Help to Buy, second loans and other charges: what else is repaid on the day?

Every loan secured on your home has to be repaid on completion, not just the main mortgage.

• A Help to Buy equity loan (England). You repay the loan’s percentage of the market value or the agreed sale price, whichever is higher, and you need a market valuation report from a chartered surveyor. It has its own redemption letter and steps: repaying a Help to Buy equity loan. We do not publish a fixed fee for it. The extra work is written into your quote before you commit.
• A second mortgage or secured loan. It needs its own redemption statement and its own discharge. Tell us about it at the start.
• A loan from family secured on the home. The person who lent signs the discharge, on form DS1.

How many of our sellers have a mortgage to clear, and are they also buying?

Our quote form asks every seller whether there is a mortgage to pay off. Of those who said yes, about half were buying another home at the same time.

Website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026. Totals only.

If you are selling and buying, decide early whether you will repay the mortgage or move it to your next home, because the two need different paperwork from your lender.

What do we charge when there is a mortgage to pay off?

Our selling fee range is in the box below. It includes the File Opening Fee (Non-refundable), Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer) and Mortgage Redemption Fee. If there is no mortgage to pay off, the Mortgage Redemption Fee does not apply. Selling and buying at once: see buying and selling with us for the combined fee.

Paid to your lender from the sale money, never added to our fees: the redemption figure, including any early repayment charge and any exit fee. Any early repayment charge is set by your lender, not by us.

We give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

What happens next

• Porting a mortgage to your next home
• Capital Gains Tax after the sale
• Selling your home with us
• Buying and selling at the same time
• More guides, explained