Gift of Site from Parents - Bank looking for money ?

My parents are gifting me a site to the side of their home. (they have a large property). My father contacted the bank a couple of months ago to see if the bank would release the site ( as there is stilll a small mortgage on the property). The local branch said that it was ok as it was not decreasing the value of their property.

Now the bank have come back to say that they will not release the site unless money is paid off the mortgage. Firstly it is a gift so no money is being exchanged. Secondly, the value of my parents house now minus the site is still about 3 to 3 1/2 times the existing mortgage!!! Thirdly, I have no way of getting extra money to essentially buy a site my partents want to gift to me.

Does anyone know where we stand on this? Or have any suggestions? The local branch have not been particularly helpful so we could use some advice!

Thanks!

Maybe you should look at this from a different perspective.

Your parents own property which is mortgaged. They cannot deal with that property without the consent of the bank - unless they redeem their mortgage.

The bank are under no obligation to facilitate you or your parents.

If you all approach it from that angle, you may be able to approach the bank with a solution e.g. that some money is paid off the mortgage to make it more palatable for the bank.

mf

If the value of your parents' house even minus the site is so much more than their existing mortgage, is it possible for them to remortgage with a different bank? So that the new lender would hold security only on their property but not on the site they want to gift to you.
Of course, it might not be advisable if there are early redemption charges on their mortgage or if they are on a very favourable rate, e.g. a tracker.