Pay off mortgage ?

[Paul M]

Years ago I was told that it's better to not quite pay off you mortgage, but just leave it at a few pounds and let the mortgage company continue to look after your house deeds, rather than you have them and pay someone to keep them secure.

Is this still true ?

Do you actually need to keep you house deeds safe in some vault - how hard is it to replace them if they are lost/damaged ?

[Shaun]

My grandparents keep theirs in a fire proof locked box under the stairs, think it cost them about £50 for the box. Seems like a great investment to me.

[Millay]

I know of people who keep there deeds in a document safe in the house, but £50 therenormaly more like £200

Keeping documents at the bank is extrmly cheep... cant rmeber the exact price but its a coupleof quid a month me thinks...

[Robert Atkins]

Originally Posted by Paul M

Years ago I was told that it's better to not quite pay off you mortgage, but just leave it at a few pounds and let the mortgage company continue to look after your house deeds, rather than you have them and pay someone to keep them secure.

Is this still true ?

Do you actually need to keep you house deeds safe in some vault - how hard is it to replace them if they are lost/damaged ?

It is completely unnecessary.

The land registry will replace the deeds for 20 quid (I checked with them few years back and that was the price quoted)

Originally Posted by Shaun

My grandparents keep theirs in a fire proof locked box under the stairs, think it cost them about £50 for the box. Seems like a great investment to me.

My mum and dad did the same when they paid theirs off, they got a safe them sort that you can anchor to the wall or floor and locked all the stuff in there.

[Escapee]

As far as I am aware, most mortgage companies will not keep the deeds these days. The old system of leaving a pound outstanding so the mortgage company will keep the deeds for free, instead of having to pay a solicitor to hold them has all but dissapeared in recent times.

My parents left a pound on their previous property to use this service, they are now close to paying off the mortgage for their current property and have been told they cannot do this. I also work with a guy who has paid his mortgage off within the past six months, he has been handed his deeds because the service is no longer available.

[bopdude]

Originally Posted by Robert Atkins

It is completely unnecessary.

The land registry will replace the deeds for 20 quid (I checked with them few years back and that was the price quoted)

A couple of years back but your profile says your 15 now, so a couple of years back you would have been 12 or 13, my but you started young

[Robert Atkins]

Originally Posted by bopdude

A couple of years back but your profile says your 15 now, so a couple of years back you would have been 12 or 13, my but you started young

ok I will age myself a bit

Originally Posted by Paul M

Years ago I was told that it's better to not quite pay off you mortgage, but just leave it at a few pounds and let the mortgage company continue to look after your house deeds, rather than you have them and pay someone to keep them secure.

Is this still true ?

As far as I know it is still true - not exactly sure what the advantage is, but it is probably tax-related.

Originally Posted by Paul M

Do you actually need to keep you house deeds safe in some vault - how hard is it to replace them if they are lost/damaged ?

Pretty sure they're hard to replace, and if someone gets hold of them you're in deep doo-doo. (As the holder can then borrow money against YOUR house as security - they run off with the cash - you lose your house!)

So keep your mortgage at £5 or whatever the figure is and the BS will look after your deeds carefully and securely - much cheaper and safer than a safe at home (realising that most home fire/safes wouldn't survive for more that 1/2 hour in a house fire anyway.)

[Escapee]

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

So keep your mortgage at £5 or whatever the figure is and the BS will look after your deeds carefully and securely - much cheaper and safer than a safe at home (realising that most home fire/safes wouldn't survive for more that 1/2 hour in a house fire anyway.)

As I said in my previous post though, most BS will not do this anymore!

I'm not sure when they removed this service, but my parents are about to come to an end with their mortgage and the BS does not offer this facility anymore. My parents had their previous mortgage with the same BS and left a pound unpaid on the account to use the facility.

I guess the answer is to check with you specific BS, to see if they still offer this service.

PS: I know lots of deeds were lost last year when a local solicitor was struck off and the business closed down.

[ian@huth]

Strictly speaking title deeds are not required these days and may only have an historical value. Property transfers in England and Wales have for some time had to be registered with the Land Registry which guarantees title.

My deeds are tucked away in an old cash box together with documents like Birth and Marriage certificates.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Robert Atkins

It is completely unnecessary.

The land registry will replace the deeds for 20 quid (I checked with them few years back and that was the price quoted)

That rather depends on when you bought your house. If the transaction was a full 25 yr mortgage lifetime ago then the land will not yet be registered at the land registry and the deeds will have value as they will be the title to the property. When the property is sold the TR1 informs the LR and creates electronic deeds.

There is probably a process of dematerialising your deeds, but you would need to check with the LR.