Transfer of Equity

You may wish to change the ownership of your property for a number of reasons. The most common examples of when people wish to change the ownership of their property is on marriage (transferring the property to joint names) or separation/ divorce (transferring the property from joint names into a sole name) These types of transaction are referred to as ‘transfers of equity’.

In order to complete a transfer of equity we will need the title deeds or a copy from the Land Registry in order to prepare a transfer deed for signature by the parties involved.

We will also need to contact any third parties who may have an interest in the property, such as your mortgage lender or freeholder. If the property is mortgaged and you wish to keep the same mortgage you will firstly need to obtain the approval of your lender to the transfer. If a new person is to be added to the deeds then the lender may require that person to sign a mortgage deed and will carry out the usual credit and reference checks.

We will need to ascertain whether stamp duty is payable following completion of the transfer and if required we will complete a Stamp Duty Land Transaction Return and submit this to the Inland Revenue on your behalf. Following completion we will register the transfer at the Land Registry for which a Land Registry fee will be payable by you.