Senior Money Writer – Mortgages Expert
12 May 2026
Already sold down the river, around 13,400 mortgage prisoners have been sold off by the Co-op Bank – but not under its own brand – to a new inactive (in other words, no competition, no options) lender. We speak to those affected and explain what it means for you.
The move is the latest in a string of sales moving mortgage prisoners from one inactive lender to another, meaning many frustrated homeowners remain trapped on expensive standard variable rates (SVRs), unable to move, as these lenders don’t offer new mortgages and borrowers can’t pass strict affordability criteria testing to switch elsewhere – even though switching could see them paying less.
Both MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) and its founder Martin Lewis have been campaigning on behalf of mortgage prisoners for many years now. In March 2023, an MSE-commissioned report by the London School of Economics and Political Science was published, which put forward proposals for freeing mortgage prisoners – though a detailed response to this has still yet to be given by the Government.
Co-op Bank sells mortgage prisoners to another inactive lender
This is quite complicated, so we’ll try to explain in brief what’s happened:
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In October 2025, Co-op Bank transferred around 13,000 mortgage borrowers, who had loans with its inactive subsidiaries, to another inactive lender. Co-op Bank is an active mortgage lender owned by the Coventry Building Society (as of January 2025). But these mortgage borrowers had been held separately to Co-op Bank’s regular lending book, under the following inactive subsidiaries:
– Mortgage Agency Services Number Two Limited.
– Mortgage Agency Services Number Four Limited.
– Mortgage Agency Services Number Five (MAS5) Limited.
– Mortgage Agency Services Number Six Limited.
– Platform Funding Limited. -
These borrowers have been moved to inactive lender Aspiro Mortgages. It formed in 2025 and is one of several trading names used by inactive lender Topaz Finance. Topaz Finance has over 100,000 mortgages and other loans on its books. Among these are 4,000 homeowners whose mortgages were transferred to Bloom Homeloans – another trading name of Topaz Finance – in February 2025. Co-op Bank hasn’t told us why these borrowers have been transferred to Aspiro Mortgages.
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This transfer could lead to many, including vulnerable borrowers, remaining stuck on a high SVR. Topaz Finance told us it hadn’t changed anyone’s rates as a direct result of the transfer. Its SVR is currently 7.63%. But this in turn may continue to compound the risks of financial difficulties and repossession.
Moved to Aspiro Mortgages? Check if you can return to Co-op Bank
If you were transferred to Aspiro Mortgages, you currently have until October 2026 to check if you can return to Co-op Bank. If you’re successful, this would mean having a mortgage with the main, active Co-op Bank and NOT going back to an inactive subsidiary.
Being with the main Co-op Bank could result in you being offered a better interest rate, plus make it easier for you to switch deals and remortgage again in future.
In order to check if you can transfer, you’ll need to:
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Apply via a mortgage broker. Aspiro Mortgages says it can put you in touch with a broker – in letters we’ve seen, it’s recommended Fluent Money or Key Advice. You can also see our Cheap mortgage finding guide for more info on finding a mortgage broker, though you’ll need to check if they can help in this specific scenario.
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Co-op Bank says its mortgage underwriter will then consider “variances” from its standard lending criteria. This could include a more relaxed stress testing criteria, a longer mortgage term or an interest-only mortgage.
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You need to apply within 12 months of your transfer to Aspiro Mortgages.
Co-op Bank says it’s operated “relaxed” underwriting criteria for its mortgage prisoners since 2019. But we’re unaware of it offering trapped borrowers good value fixed-rate deals from within its active lending book under Financial Conduct Authority rules MSE campaigned for. Co-op Bank wouldn’t tell us how many people have applied to it to remortgage or how many have been successful in doing so.
A spokesperson for Topaz Finance said that anyone struggling should get in touch as it has a “variety of solutions and dedicated advisers available to help”.
Were you transferred to Aspiro Mortgages? If you were part of the transfer from a subsidiary of Co-op Bank to Aspiro Mortgages and have since tried to remortgage back to Co-op Bank, we’d like to hear how you got on.
‘We’ve been enduring a crisis since 2008’
Louise, 61, from the south of England, was among the mortgage prisoners transferred to Aspiro Mortgages. Before that she’d had a mortgage with MAS5 since 2007 and says she’d tried to switch lenders several times to no avail.
As a closed-book mortgage borrower you feel like a commodity to be traded. It’s a devastating position to be in. We have been enduring a crisis ever since the 2008 financial crash. The Coventry Building Society is abandoning mortgage prisoners like us by transferring us to Aspiro. – Louise
As a result of being a mortgage prisoner, Louise has found herself stuck paying expensive interest rates for the past 18 years. For example, in April 2020 Louise was paying a rate of 5.35% at the same time the Bank of England base rate was only 0.1%, while in March 2024 she was paying a rate of 9.13% when the base rate was 5.25%. Louise’s interest rate at the time of the transfer was 7.88%. The base rate in October 2025 was 4%.
Louise and her partner have also struggled with mortgage arrears over the years. Louise says they’ve since cleared these, but she told us she can only afford her monthly repayments with the help of the Government’s support for mortgage interest (SMI). This is a scheme for people on certain benefits, though it’s paid as a loan, which means it will eventually need repaying with interest – Louise estimates this will be around £30,000 in her case.
Louise told us her mortgage term is due to end in 2027, at which point she’ll need to repay the mortgage in full, but her outstanding balance is still over £200,000. Louise believes if she’d been paying a competitive rate of interest she would have cleared her mortgage entirely a couple of years ago.
We have truly struggled and had to rely on foodbanks, supermarket vouchers and carer support groups for the past three to four years. Even in the years before the pandemic, we had to make sacrifices, such as not using the heating during the winter in a bid to save money.
All our money has to go towards the mortgage. At one point I was trying to care for my mother remotely as she lived 200 miles away and we didn’t have enough money to go and see her. – Louise
Many mortgage prisoners have been stuck for 18 years on expensive rates
Up to an estimated 200,000 ‘mortgage prisoners’ have been stuck with inactive lenders since Northern Rock failed in 2008. They tend to be on their lender’s SVR, which is often the only interest rate inactive lenders have. SVRs are far more expensive than almost all fixed and variable-rate deals on the wider market. While SVRs from big banks tend to be around 6% to 7%, inactive lenders’ SVRs have been as high as 9% in recent years.
Furthermore, as SVRs are variable, the rate can go up or down any time – typically SVRs move in line with the Bank of England’s base rate, though this doesn’t always happen, and some mortgage prisoners have seen SVRs put up without any change to the base rate. While a homeowner with an active lender can avoid landing on their lender’s SVR by switching deals when their fixed or variable deal ends, many mortgage prisoners can’t.
