What does it mean when you are 'tied in' to a morgage?

[monkeytrousers]

Does it mean you cannot sell the house for two years (or however long) or you cannot swap to another lender?

think it means you cannot swap to another lender without having to pay a redemption fee... this is usually a percentage of the interest you would have paid, or an amount of days interest. They will tell you if it's for 2 years, 5 years etc

Usually it means that if you want to change lenders or even swap to a different mortgage with the same lender, you have to pay a redemption fee as a penalty.

Generally you agree to this when taking the mortgage out to get a better interest rate.

I don;t think there is anything stopping you legally from cancelling a mortgage agreement, you might just have to pay some money.

you can swap and sell your house but you will incur the fees stated in your contract, a friend of mine has just bought a new house but a year ago he changed to get a better discounted rate but when he moved he had to pay £2000 to 'get out' of that mortgage

oh, and it's usually over a grand

It's not to buy another house, just in case of family breakdown..unfortunately. I need to know what our options are if the worst comes to the worst.

i'd ring them. it may be in your terms, offer letter. have oyu had the mortgage long?

Some mortgages with tie-ins are portable i.e. you can transfer it to your new house.

Oh, sweetheart, so sorry, just seen you don't want a new house. .

Thanks N3 - the morgage is in my partners name. He is saying we can't sell as he is 'tied in' to it for 2 years, but that just doesn't make sense to me.

monkeytrousers, if you sell your maybe-ex will have to pay a penalty to teh lender, but the house can till be sold and presumably the courts could order him to do so. Is the house in his name too or just the mortgage? If so then your rights could be severely limited and you need to get advice asap - it will depend on whether you have made any finacial contribution to the property.