Adding or removing an owner when there’s a mortgage

Changing owners with a mortgage at a glance

Will my lender agree to add or remove someone?

The change starts with your lender, not with us. Santander, Nationwide and NatWest all say they check that whoever will be on the mortgage afterwards can afford it. Nationwide and NatWest also run credit checks. If the person staying cannot afford the payments alone, the lender can say no.

Some situations are ruled out or harder:

• Negative equity. If you owe more than the home is worth, a lender may not be able to process the change (Leeds Building Society).
• A let property, or a mortgage that would still have three or more borrowers (Nationwide).
• More than two people on the mortgage (NatWest allows at most two).

Keep paying the mortgage while you decide. Missed payments can affect the credit files of everyone named on it (Yorkshire Building Society).

What four lenders publish about changing borrowers (checked 29 October 2026)

Lenders change their rules and fees. Your lender’s own letter is what counts, and we work from it.

If I come off the deeds, am I off the mortgage too?

No. The deeds and the mortgage are two separate things.

• The deeds are the register at HM Land Registry. They say who owns the home. A signed transfer deed (form TR1), once registered, changes them.
• The mortgage is your loan agreement with the lender. Only the lender can release someone from it.

So you can be off the deeds and still owe the whole mortgage. Or you can be on the deeds without being a borrower, if the lender agrees. So if you are coming off the deeds, ask the lender to release you from the mortgage at the same time. Otherwise you could give up your share and still owe the debt.

Keep the same lender, or remortgage at the same time?

There are two usual routes. You can ask your current lender to change the names on your mortgage. Or you can move to a new mortgage in the new names at the same time as the transfer. Which one fits depends on whether you need to borrow more, and on your lender’s rules.

Whether you can borrow more, and which mortgage to choose, is for your lender or a mortgage adviser. We do not give mortgage advice. More on remortgage and transfer of equity together.

Does taking on part of the mortgage count as paying for the share?

Yes, for Stamp Duty. If you take on liability for part of a mortgage when you take a share of a home, that part of the mortgage counts as payment. It counts even if no money changes hands. HMRC divides the mortgage in line with the shares. So if you take a 50% share of a home with a £280,000 mortgage, you are treated as paying £140,000. Any cash you pay on top is added.

If you will also own another home worth £40,000 or more, the higher rates usually apply. A transfer to your husband, wife or civil partner is not charged at the higher rates, as long as you live together and no one else is involved. A Stamp Duty return is usually needed when the total is £40,000 or more, even if no tax is due.

Worked examples for homes in England, all 50/50:

Example B depends on the lender. Most lenders want everyone on the deeds to be on the mortgage too, so check with yours first.

Try your own figures in the transfer of equity calculator (it opens with Example A filled in).

An estimate for individuals transferring a share of a home in England. This is not tax advice: HMRC is the authority on what you owe. Not included: first-time buyers’ relief, the exception from the higher rates for replacing a main home, the 2% surcharge for buyers who are not UK resident, companies and trusts, homes with more than two owners, and Capital Gains Tax.

What happens first, and what happens last?

1. Ask your lender. Apply to change the borrowers, or apply for the new mortgage. The lender checks affordability and credit.
2. The lender agrees in writing. This is a consent, a new mortgage offer or a change-of-borrower offer.
3. You instruct us. You get a written, itemised quote first. We check everyone’s ID, read the title and confirm the shares and any money being paid.
4. We prepare the papers. That means the transfer deed (TR1) plus any mortgage documents the lender sends. Each person signs in front of a witness.
5. Completion. The transfer takes effect. Any buy-out money is paid, and on a remortgage the old loan is paid off.
6. Tax. In England any Stamp Duty return and tax are due within 14 days of completion. In Wales the Land Transaction Tax return is due within 30 days.
7. Registration. We send the transfer to HM Land Registry, with any new mortgage, so the register shows the new owners.

Read the five steps of a transfer, in more detail.

Is it different for a home in Wales?

The lender’s consent, the deed and HM Land Registry work the same way in Wales. The tax is different. Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT), paid to the Welsh Revenue Authority, not Stamp Duty.

The same mortgage rule applies: debt you take on counts as payment (Land Transaction Tax Act 2017, Schedule 4, paragraph 8). If you will not own another home, the main rates start at 0% up to £225,000, so many transfers between couples owe nothing. If you will own another home, the higher rates start at 5% from the first pound. The LTT return is due within 30 days, not 14. In Wales, transfers between spouses or civil partners in connection with a divorce or dissolution are exempt.

Work out other figures with the Land Transaction Tax calculator.

Who charges what when there’s a mortgage?

Three separate sets of charges, never added into one total:

Our fees

• The transfer of equity: we give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.
• If we also do your remortgage: our remortgage fee is in “Our fees” below. It is the remortgage fee, not a transfer of equity fee.

Your lender’s charges

• Any fee for changing borrowers (see the lender table above), plus any valuation or product fee on a new mortgage. Set by the lender.

Government

• Stamp Duty (England) or Land Transaction Tax (Wales), as in the examples above.
• The HM Land Registry fee. Where no money is paid, it is based on the value of the share less the mortgage. Example A: 50% of (£325,000 − £280,000) = £22,500, so £20. Where money is paid as well, a different HM Land Registry scale applies (Scale 1, for transfers for value).

Our transfer of equity solicitors page explains what we do for you.

Questions about the deeds and the loan

Can I add my partner to the deeds but not the mortgage?

Sometimes, if your lender agrees. Many lenders want everyone on the deeds to be a borrower too. If your partner is not a borrower and takes on no debt, there is usually no Stamp Duty on a gift of a share. See how joint ownership works for how you will own it.

Can my ex stay on the mortgage after coming off the deeds?

Only if the lender agrees, and they stay liable for all of the debt. Most people want to be released at the same time.

We put in different amounts. Does the transfer record that?

The transfer can say you own the home in unequal shares. A separate document can record who put in what.

What if my lender says no?

Then the mortgage and the deeds stay as they are, and everyone on the mortgage stays liable. You could look at a new lender with a mortgage adviser, or at selling.

What happens next

• Keeping the home, buying out or selling when you separate
• Transfer of equity calculator
• Remortgage conveyancing
• Transfer of equity in a property: the 5 key steps
• More transfer of equity, explained