People moving home are finding a major new hurdle in their paths.

They cannot port their existing mortgages and are being put on to more expensive deals – even if the amount they are borrowing is the same or they are downsizing to a cheaper property.

According to a report in the Telegraph, home movers are being put through new affordability checks and failing them if they get just one answer wrong.

It claims that home movers on cheap deals are seen as unprofitable by lenders, who are using the Mortgage Market Review affordability requirements to weed them out.

In some cases, borrowers who fail the tests are not only giving up low interest rates but having to pay exit fees to quit their existing mortgages early.

Those failing the affordability tests have usually changed their circumstances in some way since taking out the first mortgage. But the change could be as simple as getting older.

The Financial Conduct Authority said that some lenders are not applying the MMR rules correctly.

Lenders should not force customers to undergo affordability checks if they are porting a mortgage and not increasing their borrowing, it said/

However, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said each bank was free to make its own decisions.

The Telegraph says that the FCA is to investigate.

The report is here