FAQ’s

A Second Charge is a legal charge put on a property in favour of a lender, or creditor. A Second Charge comes second in line to a ‘First Charge’, which would normally be your mortgage. When the property gets sold, the First Charge mortgage, will be cleared in full before the Second Charge receives any money.

A second charge mortgage allows you to get a loan secured against the equity in your property. You could borrow up to 100% of the property value, in some cases more, depending on your credit rating and ability to repay both mortgages at the same time. 

The loan is known as a “second” mortgage because your purchase loan is typically the first loan that is secured by a charge on your home. Second mortgages tap into the equity in your home, which is the market value of your home relative to any loan balances.

It can be easier and cheaper to get a second mortgage than it is to remortgage in certain circumstances. Depending on your financial situation, you may also be able to borrow more.

For home equity loans and lines of credit, the main requirement is equity in your property. You need to have a certain amount of equity built up before you can think about taking out a 2nd mortgage.

It depends. If you are locked in a very low fixed rate or the additional costs associated with remortgaging, such as lenders arrangement fees, legal costs, survey fees, early repayment charges etc, it may be more cost effective to look at second charge loan.

It doesn’t matter that the new lender is paying off your first mortgage. … Basically, the second charge lender allows the new lender to pay off the primary mortgage and move into first position, leaving the second charge lender in a subordinate position.