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Original poster

What happens when the mortgage is paid off?

76 replies

ReviewingTheSituation · 18/08/2022 10:29

Just that really... Our final payment went out this week, so we have paid off the mortgage. We've had nothing from the bank to say we have to 'do' anything, but now that we own the house outright, it feels like there should be some course of action that makes things official?

I've heard/read that we don't need the physical deeds any more (I don't actually know where the deeds would be - do the mortgage company have them?), although it would be quite nice to have them. But how do we prove that the house is ours/put it in our name?

It feels like a momentous thing - all of a sudden, we own this asset, but apart from the fact we're living in it, there's nothing to say so. When a car is sold, you have to fill in a bit of paper for DVLA giving the name of the new owner - it feels like something similar should happen for a house?

Can anyone who's been-there-done-that enlighten me?

OP posts:
ElizaB22 · 21/08/2022 08:02

When we paid it off in Scotland we had to see our solicitor to get it discharged I think and as we were still paying our endowment at the time we had to do something to stop that going to the bank on maturity....not that it would have paid the house off when it finally did mature 🙄 But that was back in 2004 so things may have changed.... technology has moved on since the dark ages 🤣

AwkwardAnnie · 21/08/2022 08:03

We paid ours of a couple of months ago.
We had a letter from the bank saying they didn't have paper deeds so they had nothing to send to us, but they would write to the land registry to take their name of it, then a couple of weeks later we had a letter through from the land registry too.

We have the paper deeds as they were sent to us when we bought the house.

And congratulations, it's a brilliant feeling. 😁🎉

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 21/08/2022 08:06

Stapleton143 · 18/08/2022 11:53

We deliberately keep a small amount of mortgage to pay each month as we don’t want the responsibility of owning the deeds outright. Something in the news he had read about someone fraudulently steeling someone’s deeds of property. So we remain cautious.

Look at what @greenacrylicpaint says and register with

www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud

They will notify you of any 'movements' against your property.

Also ensure it is registered with the Land Registry (not all properties are)

You don't get the deeds anymore (we didn't) which is a shame because on an older property they can have interesting information. My father, for example, discovered that he wasn't allowed to have a fairground in his garden! (It was a three-bed semi) I would guess this clause was applied to every house in the area as in the 1920's it had been fields.

AlwaysLatte · 21/08/2022 08:09

I can't remember how it worked now. But I'm pretty sure we transferred the deeds to our solicitor for safe keeping.

lljkk · 21/08/2022 08:10

We kept £1 on our mortgage so that Nationwide stayed custodian of the deeds. 2nd house I'm not sure what happened.

Popplebop · 21/08/2022 08:13

Just done the same about a month ago. Had a letter from the bank saying the mortgage was ending on X date and thank you for your custom etc. I already had an alert set up with the Land Registry so knew when the bank released their charge as I had an email notification. Still haven’t had anything formally from the land registry but I paid £3 online to see the title register and I can see house is only in our names now.

Popplebop · 21/08/2022 08:14

And we already had a large parcel of deeds to the house sent back to us a few years ago.

Mmmmdanone · 21/08/2022 08:16

TeaAndCock · 18/08/2022 12:11

I'm in Scotland and our mortgage will end in December. It's my understanding that we need a solicitor to finalise things but that could be scotland specific. Also if any fellow Scots know differently please say as I'd like to know!

I've been reading that no one did anything but I'm in Scotland too and paid it off recently. I got a letter from mortgage company telling me to discharge the mortgage. It can be done yourself but a bit complicated. I was confusdd so paid a solicitor to do it. Few hundred pounds but with it for the peace of mind.

CrapBucket · 21/08/2022 08:20

On the emotional side- please don't feel guilty for your friends! Its great that you are sensitive and not bragging, but you have honestly earned your home fair and square. So no need for guilt.

My end of mortgage date was meant to be a few years from now, however, my marriage ended and I've started over on my own.... my end of mortgage date is now 24 years and 10 months from now.... I am still delighted for friends finishing their mortgages though!! (As long as they're not in a shit marriage, no house is worth that)

Friends aren't really friends if they can't be happy for each other.

Congratulations OP 🍾

TroysMammy · 21/08/2022 08:30

When I paid mine off I got a letter from the building society confirming it and advising me of their savings accounts. My mortgage payment was £200 per month so I've continue saving that since. I had my deeds posted to me.

snowday888 · 21/08/2022 08:31

Well done on paying off your mortgage early. Mark the occasion yourself but I'd be less inclined to share publicly given the high costs of living at the moment. Also, I know someone whose bank still took direct debits so make sure that is cancelled.

For people in Scotland, I've tried to sign up for the land registry alert but seems Scottish postcodes are invalid. Is there anything similar in Scotland?

Eeksteek · 21/08/2022 08:36

Stapleton143 · 18/08/2022 11:53

We deliberately keep a small amount of mortgage to pay each month as we don’t want the responsibility of owning the deeds outright. Something in the news he had read about someone fraudulently steeling someone’s deeds of property. So we remain cautious.

The registry is all online now, so the mortgage company probably will send you the physical deeds because they don’t want to store them. They’ll send them out on any excuse these days, because I don’t think they are actual proof of ownership now. I have them for two properties. One that has always been mortgaged and one that I did own outright, but then remortgaged and the lender didn’t even mention sending in the deeds.

You should at least get a congratulatory letter from the bank. It’s quite an achievement!

Cervinia · 21/08/2022 08:40

We paid the last 9k off as a lump sum so contacted the nationwide to get the final figure from them. They were great, calculated the figure but then explained due to the way the interest worked we would have slightly overpaid but once the payment cleared they would recalculate and refund the excess. They also sent us confirmation that the loan was cleared and explained we would hear from the land registry which we did. I filed the letter safely.

Dreamstosell · 21/08/2022 08:42

WeAllHaveWings · 20/08/2022 09:26

We are in Scotland and didnt need a solicitor for anything, we just got a couple of letters from the mortgage company (that are filed somewhere) and that was it.

Show quote history

I’m in Scotland too. Check the letter from the mortgage company. You definitely do need to do something to discharge the mortgage (not sure if that’s the correct term). Advice is to use a solicitor.

Although having said, that mine was paid off last year and I’d forgotten to do the solicitor bit and nothing has happened 🤣. This thread has been a good reminder and I will contact a solicitor tomorrow and finalise things properly.

Kona84 · 21/08/2022 09:00

Contact the bank, there maybe fees at the end of the mortgage.
letter fees etc payment for the release of the deeds.
depends when you took out the mortgage and terms and conditions

Caroffee · 21/08/2022 09:00

Been there with this one. There really is nothing to do. Your deeds are held digitally by the Land Registry. You can apply online to receive email notifications if anybody tries to change the ownership of the property, which I did. But other than that, nada. The mortgage provider should remove the charge on the property within 18 months of the mortgage completing. I haven't checked that tbh.

wigywhoo · 21/08/2022 09:01

Stapleton143 · 18/08/2022 11:53

We deliberately keep a small amount of mortgage to pay each month as we don’t want the responsibility of owning the deeds outright. Something in the news he had read about someone fraudulently steeling someone’s deeds of property. So we remain cautious.

What an odd thing to do, a) often no physical deeds, b) cheaper to secure them at a solicitors or your local bank!

EmptshelvesUK · 21/08/2022 09:02

Get in touch with land registry and setup all the relevant logins and alerts so that if someone were to try and sell it without your knowledge you’d be informed.

very important, especially if you live somewhere where your post can be accessed by others (say at the end of a drive).

congratulations. 💐🎉🎉🍾🍾🍾. It’s an amazing feeling isn’t it!!!

Newgirls · 21/08/2022 09:12

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 21/08/2022 07:41

@Newgirls In theory your mortgage provider will have a record of your repayment vehicle (the endowment) and vice versa.

Do you know how the endowment has performed? Will there be enough to cover the balance on the mortgage? You might find that the bank contact you to ask what to do about any extra the endowment has made or to cover a shortfall.

Thank you - it’s been so long I wasn’t sure if they knew we had it even

apparently the endowment is on track according to the latest letters but who knows with various interest changes

Surtsey · 21/08/2022 09:56

We paid off ours about 10 years ago and the building society has the deeds in their storage. They want a small fee to release them, so we've just left them there for safekeeping.

ooSarahoo · 21/08/2022 09:57

Funnily enough I got the letter from land registry and my mortgage company this week. I have as others have said the mortgage company notify land registry to remove their interest from the property and my lender sent me all the paperwork they had, which were my paper deeds, letters from when l I bought the house, some of the searches completed etc.

Original poster
ReviewingTheSituation · 22/08/2022 15:01

Thanks for all the useful advice and nice messages. Our home insurance was up for renewal today, so I phoned them to amend the policy to tell them that it's now owned outright and made quite a saving.....

... a grand total of £4.27!!

The nice man on the end of the phone did offer his congratulations on paying off the mortgage though, and said he hoped it was worth ooodles more than we'd paid for it! (I actually have no idea - maybe I should have it valued out of curiosity)

OP posts:
AnneElliott · 22/08/2022 16:54

Congratulations op! I bet it's such a feel in g of relief that the house is now yours - whatever happens you own it and it can't be taken away.

JubileeTrifle · 22/08/2022 17:11

We just changed the mortgage payment to a savings payment instead so we didn’t notice any difference.

MLMsuperfan · 22/08/2022 22:04

When you make your final payment your lender should offer you a choice between a Waffle Party and a Music Dance Experience to celebrate.