Should I take a portable deal now, or wait to buy?

Q I have owned my leasehold flat in London for four years. I initially took out a two-year fixed-rate mortgage with Yorkshire building society, then transferred to another two-year deal, fixed at 3.25%. This rate will come to an end on September 30. I plan to put my home on the market now and buy a property in Manchester with my partner, by December with any luck.

Should I start searching for a replacement but portable product for when this mortgage ends, or let the current deal end and pay the lender's base rate until I find a property to buy? What are the pros and cons of securing a 'portable' mortgage now and what are the hidden costs? Which of the two options would save me money in the short or long term and which is less hassle? Are there better options that I haven't considered?

I would probably be looking for another two-year fixed rate - I need to know that I can afford payments comfortably and do not want to be tied in too long and miss out on any good deals

AK

A Given the timescale that you have, I'm not convinced that switching the mortgage on your current home is a good idea. There are inevitably fees to pay when setting up - but also making changes to - a mortgage so it will probably be both cheaper and simpler to wait until you buy the property in Manchester.

If you had been thinking of moving in a year's time, for example, getting a portable fixed-rate deal on the London flat might have been a good idea. But it's worth bearing in mind that the fixed-rate deal is typically only portable up to the amount you have already borrowed. So, for example, if you have a £50,000 fixed-rate deal which you want to take with you to a more expensive property - costing, say £75,000 - the extra you need to borrow won't necessarily be at the same rate or indeed on the same fixed terms. So if you want your whole mortgage to be a fixed-rate deal, you are probably better off waiting.

And assuming that you and your partner will be getting a joint mortgage for your new property, making changes to a current mortgage to accommodate this fact could also be costly. It'll be much less hassle to wait and start afresh, although you could start researching your new deal now.