Porting Declined: What to Do When Your Lender Says No

Seeing "portable" in your mortgage offer does not guarantee that the lender will approve a move.

Porting normally involves a new mortgage application against a new property. A lender can therefore decline even though the old product itself is portable.

Before applying elsewhere, ask which part of the porting case failed:

1. affordability;
2. credit criteria;
3. the new property;
4. additional borrowing;
5. loan-to-value;
6. product or porting rules; or
7. timing.

Then deal with that reason specifically.

A generic "port declined" answer is not enough to decide whether you should challenge the decision, change the purchase, reduce the borrowing, use a different lender or abandon the port.

Portability is a feature of the mortgage product.

Halifax's current guidance makes the distinction clearly: even where the rate is portable, the customer is applying for a new mortgage and affordability is assessed again.

The lender is not simply swapping one address for another in its security records.

Read our full mortgage porting guide if you need the basic mechanics first.

Your finances may have changed since the original mortgage was granted.

Examples include:

• lower income;
• new childcare costs;
• car finance;
• credit-card balances;
• a shorter remaining term;
• a larger requested mortgage;
• changed lender affordability rules; or
• less acceptable variable income.

If you are upsizing and borrowing more, affordability becomes even more important.

Do not try another lender until you know whether the problem is the requested amount or the lender's particular calculation. Our guide on mortgage affordability declines explains the main levers.

You might qualify to port the existing balance but not for the larger mortgage needed for the new home.

That creates three possible numbers:

• amount currently owed;
• amount the lender will allow you to port; and
• total mortgage needed for the move.

If the third is higher than the lender will approve, the porting feature itself may not be the problem.

See how porting and additional borrowing are split.

Possible responses include:

• larger deposit;
• cheaper property;
• reducing committed credit;
• longer mortgage term where appropriate;
• using a lender with different affordability criteria; or
• reconsidering whether preserving the old rate is worth restricting the move.

The borrower can pass and the property can fail.

Lenders can have restrictions on:

• non-standard construction;
• short leases;
• high-rise flats;
• ex-local-authority properties;
• unusual use;
• large acreage;
• commercial adjacency;
• condition;
• cladding or building-safety concerns; and
• valuation.

Ask whether the issue is:

• unacceptable security;
• maximum LTV;
• valuation amount; or
• a condition that can be resolved.

A low valuation is a different problem from a property the lender will not accept at any price. See what to do after a low mortgage valuation.

A new application means the lender can reassess current creditworthiness.

Changes since the original mortgage might include:

• missed payments;
• defaults;
• CCJs;
• higher unsecured debt;
• many recent applications; or
• new financial associations.

Check the actual credit files rather than relying on an app score.

If the lender says "credit score", ask whether there is any more specific information it can provide. The consumer-facing score is not normally the underwriting score used by the lender.

Moving to a more expensive home, using less deposit or receiving a lower valuation can increase the loan-to-value ratio.

That can affect:

• whether the lender will port;
• how much extra it will lend;
• which additional-borrowing products are available; and
• the rate.

Use our guide to LTV and mortgage product bands to recalculate the case using the lender's valuation rather than only the purchase price.

Downsizing can create a different issue.

If you only need part of the existing balance, the lender may port the required amount and treat the rest as an early repayment.

That can create an ERC on the unported part.

A lender saying you cannot port the full balance is not necessarily saying you cannot port anything.

Ask for the figures in writing:

• current balance;
• amount eligible to port;
• amount being repaid;
• overpayment allowance applied; and
• ERC, if any.

Some lenders have rules around:

• simultaneous sale and purchase;
• selling before buying;
• deadlines for completing the new mortgage;
• when an ERC can be refunded; and
• how long a product can be held between properties.

If a chain breaks, do not assume the port survives indefinitely.

Ask the lender for the precise porting window and what has to happen within it.

You can ask the lender to review a decision where you believe:

• facts were entered incorrectly;
• income evidence was misunderstood;
• the wrong policy was applied;
• the valuation contains an error; or
• the lender did not follow the product's terms.

But a portable product does not create a right to be accepted regardless of current lending criteria.

If you make a formal complaint, separate "I dislike the outcome" from "the lender applied the contract or process incorrectly."

The Financial Ombudsman Service can consider complaints about regulated financial firms after the firm's complaints process where the dispute falls within its remit.

Possibly, but understand the cost of abandoning the port first.

Leaving the existing deal can create:

• an early repayment charge;
• loss of a favourable rate;
• new product fees;
• new valuation or legal costs; and
• a different monthly payment.

On the other hand, a whole new mortgage can sometimes be cheaper than preserving one attractive rate while taking expensive top-up borrowing.

Compare the complete transaction, not the emotional value of "keeping my old fix".

1. Ask for the exact decline reason.
2. Check whether the ported balance or extra borrowing failed.
3. Check the lender's valuation and LTV.
4. Review all three credit reports if credit was mentioned.
5. Correct any factual error before another hard application.
6. Ask a broker to model porting versus a full remortgage.
7. Calculate ERCs and fees under both routes.
8. Only then submit the next application.

That sequence reduces the risk of turning one criteria problem into several unnecessary hard searches.

Browse all our mortgage guides.

• Halifax — How porting a mortgage works
• FCA Handbook — MCOB 11 responsible lending
• Financial Ombudsman Service — Mortgages
• MoneyHelper — Moving home

Related: Mortgage Porting Explained | Porting and Borrowing More | Mortgage Affordability Decline.