Southern Pacific Mortgage Ltd v Heath [2009] EWCA Civ 1135, [2009] All ER (D) 77 (Nov)
Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Waller, Dyson and Lloyd LJJ, 5 November 2009
The Court of Appeal has ruled on the interpretation of s 18 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974), holding that a mortgage with a term requiring the redemption of a previous mortgage as well as extra credit could not be regarded as an agreement in two separate parts so as to bring the value of each part within the definition of a consumer credit agreement not exceeding £25,000.
Bradley Say (instructed Burton & Co LLP) for the claimant. Malcolm Waters QC and Jonathan Hough (instructed by Glenisters) for the defendant.
The defendant owned a house. She had the benefit of a mortgage advance from Halifax, on which some £19,000 was outstanding. She wished to obtain further credit on the security of the house.
In January 2002, she obtained an offer from a different lender of a loan of almost £29,000, to be secured on a first legal mortgage of the house. It was a term of
