What is a deed of postponement and when is it needed for a mortgage?

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When a property has more than one charge registered against it -- most commonly a main residential mortgage plus a Help to Buy equity loan, or a main mortgage plus a second charge loan -- the ranking order of these charges matters significantly if the property is ever repossessed and sold, since whoever holds the higher-ranking charge gets repaid first from the sale proceeds. **Why remortgaging can require a deed of postponement** If a homeowner with an existing Help to Buy equity loan (or other secondary charge) wants to remortgage their main mortgage with a new lender, the new lender will generally require confirmation that their new charge will rank ahead of the existing Help to Buy or second charge -- since without this, the new lender would effectively be taking a lower-priority position than the party that already registered a charge, which most mainstream lenders will not accept. **How the deed of postponement works** The holder of the existing lower-priority charge (for example, Homes England or the relevant Help to Buy agent, for a Help to Buy equity loan) formally agrees, via the deed of postponement, to rank their charge behind the new main mortgage -- effectively confirming they will only be repaid after the new main lender has been repaid in full from any sale proceeds, even though their charge might have technically been registered first in time. **Help to Buy remortgaging specifically** This is one of the most common practical scenarios -- Help to Buy equity loan holders coming to the end of their interest-free period (or simply wanting to remortgage their main loan for a better rate) need their Help to Buy administrator's agreement via a deed of postponement before a new main mortgage lender will proceed, and there is often a modest administration fee charged by the Help to Buy scheme administrator for processing this. **Timescales and delays** Obtaining a deed of postponement can take several weeks, since it involves the Help to Buy administrator (or other charge holder) processing a formal request, often requiring supporting documentation about the new mortgage and property valuation -- this is a common source of delay in Help to Buy remortgage transactions, so it is worth starting the process well before your current mortgage deal ends to avoid reverting to a lender's standard variable rate. **Second charge loans and further advances** Similar principles apply where a homeowner has a second charge loan (a secured loan additional to their main mortgage) and wants to remortgage the main mortgage with a new lender -- the second charge lender's agreement (via deed of postponement, or sometimes requiring the second charge to be repaid or re-arranged entirely) is typically needed before the new main mortgage can complete. **Who arranges it** Your conveyancing solicitor or mortgage broker typically manages the deed of postponement process on your behalf, liaising with the relevant charge holder, though the homeowner usually needs to provide information and sometimes pay an associated fee directly. **Practical tip** If you have a Help to Buy equity loan or second charge and are planning to remortgage, start the deed of postponement process as early as possible (ideally several months before your current deal ends), since delays with the secondary charge holder are a common reason homeowners end up temporarily on a lender's more expensive standard variable rate while waiting for the paperwork to complete.

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