Adding partner to deeds / mortgage

When you "add someone" to the deeds, what you are actually doing is

Don't forget that a mortgage is not something the lender gives you, but something you give the lender (in return for the lender giving you a loan). It is the security, the right to seize the property and sell it if you fail to make the payments.

Accordingly, the holder of the mortgage (i.e. the lender) will only be happy for a change of ownership (even just a partial change) to occur if the new co-owner also co-grants the mortgage. A termination of your existing mortgage, and its replacement by a joint one, is therefore unavoidable.

Lenders have their own strict procedures and I suppose what they are saying is the only way they can help you is to handle this like a whole new mortgage loan application. But all is not lost, unless you're on a particularly high income multiple already, because they will give you the option of choosing your lending limit between a mediocre multiple of joint income and a high multiple of one income plus a very low multiple of the other. If he can't prove his income, you can just pretend his income is zero, and if your income times the high multiple is enough, then the deal should be in the bag.

Whatever arrangement you then make between yourself and your partner, about who contributes what proportions of the payments, is irrelevant to the lender. They simply want to be satisfied that the risk of defaulting is low. Either way you would both still be jointly and severally liable, i.e. just because he has indicated zero income doesn't limit his liability to 0% of the joint debt.

Why do you want him on the deeds anyway? Why not simply leave the house to him in your will?

Don't tell me. "What will?" :-)

And there can be SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) implications where a transfer includes a mortgage,and CGT, if not your PPR.

An oral Declaration of Trust *might* be an effective alternative.

In message , QuickFix writes

Dont worry about your partner not being able to prove income if yours is enough, which I assume it is if your circs havent changed since you took the mtge in the first place. The big H just want to make sure he isnt on the verge of bankruptcy and is a decent cove. Fill the form in truthfully and send it off. Halifax can often agree without any proof of income anyway.

Actually the default situation is that you are giving them all of the house so that each own all of it. The half and half bit only happens if you own the house in common. In either event the debt will be joint and several.