Can you port your mortgage with bad credit?

Porting a mortgage means taking your existing deal, including its interest rate, with you when you move to a new home, instead of paying an early repayment charge to leave your current mortgage behind. It can sound like a straightforward way to keep a good rate, but it isn’t automatic, and having adverse credit can still play a part in whether your lender agrees.

That’s because porting isn’t simply a formality. Your lender reassesses your income, outgoings and credit file much as it would for a new application, even though you’re staying with the same lender and, in theory, the same rate.

How does porting actually work?

When you move house, you can ask your existing lender whether your current deal is portable. If it agrees, and you pass its assessment, your existing rate transfers to the new property, avoiding the early repayment charge that would otherwise apply for leaving the deal early. Our guide on early repayment charges explained sets out when these charges typically apply and how they’re calculated.

Does bad credit affect porting?

Yes, potentially, because porting requires a full reassessment rather than a light-touch check. This is different from a straightforward product transfer, where FCA rules allow some existing customers to switch to a new deal without a full affordability assessment, provided they aren’t borrowing more. Porting to a different property doesn’t automatically get the same treatment.

A CCJ, default or missed payments recorded since your last application will usually be part of what the lender considers. The outcome depends on the lender’s own criteria, how the entry looks (age, amount, whether it’s satisfied), and your wider financial position, so no fixed rule applies across all lenders.

What if you want to borrow more when you move?

Many people who move house need to borrow a bit more to cover the new property’s price. This extra amount is usually treated as new borrowing at the lender’s current rates for new customers, assessed in full, separately from the ported portion. If your credit file has changed since your original mortgage, this is the part most likely to be affected, since it’s assessed like any new application rather than benefiting from your existing relationship with the lender.

What happens if your lender won’t let you port?

A lender can decide not to offer porting, for example if your current circumstances or credit file don’t meet its criteria for new lending, even though you’re an existing customer. If that happens, your options include:

• paying any early repayment charge that applies and arranging a mortgage with a different lender for the new property
• speaking to a specialist adviser who works with adverse credit cases, who may know which lenders take a broader view of your situation
• reconsidering the timing of your move if your credit file is close to improving, for example when an entry is due to reach 6 years old

Our guide on what to do if your remortgage is declined covers these routes in more depth.

Porting compared with a straightforward remortgage

If your credit file has adverse entries, comparing what your current lender can offer through porting against what a specialist lender might offer through a full remortgage is often worthwhile, rather than assuming porting is automatically the cheaper or easier route.

What does this mean if you’re remortgaging with bad credit?

Porting can be attractive because it avoids an early repayment charge, but it doesn’t bypass a credit or affordability check. If you have a CCJ, defaults or other adverse credit, be prepared for the same kind of scrutiny you’d expect from a fresh mortgage application, and get your figures and credit file in order before applying, in the same way you would for any remortgage.

A specialist adviser can help you compare porting against other routes, including staying put with a product transfer if you’re not moving, or a full remortgage with a lender more familiar with your circumstances. If money is tight around a house move, free guidance is available from MoneyHelper and National Debtline.

What documents help when porting with adverse credit?

Because porting involves a fresh assessment, it’s worth gathering the same paperwork you’d need for a new application: recent payslips or accounts if you’re self-employed, bank statements, and your own copy of your credit report from each agency, checked in advance for anything that needs explaining. If you have a satisfied CCJ or a default that’s since been paid, having proof of this ready, such as a certificate of satisfaction, can help your case move more smoothly.

Does the age of your adverse credit make a difference when porting?

Often, yes. An entry that’s close to dropping off your file after 6 years, or one that’s already several years old, is generally viewed more favourably than something recorded recently, though this depends on the individual lender’s own criteria rather than a fixed industry rule. If your move can be timed to fall after an entry ages further, it’s worth asking your adviser whether waiting would meaningfully widen your options, particularly if porting is important to keeping a competitive rate.