Why remortgage?

There are lots of reasons why you might want to remortgage your home. A life change, like getting a higher paid job, moving in with a partner or starting a family, can be a prompt to find a new mortgage deal.

A mortgage deal with a new provider can offer more flexibility, shorten your mortgage term or save money on your monthly repayments.

Before getting a new deal, you’ll need to do your research to make sure this is the right mortgage deal for you.

If you already have a Halifax mortgage, then you may be able to do a product transfer.

Reasons you might want to remortgage

Save money

When your current deal comes to an end, you might want to get a new mortgage lender to access any introductory offers or rates. If you’re earning less, you may want to make lower repayments. Changing to a new lender and making your mortgage term longer may make this possible.

Lower your term

If you can afford to, you might want to shorten your mortgage term and pay more each month. Moving to a new lender might be a way to do this.

If you're on a standard variable rate (SVR)

If your current mortgage deal has ended and you’ve been moved onto a standard variable rate (SVR), this could be pricey. You may be able to pay less in repayments by switching to a fixed-rate or variable rate deal.

 

You need more flexibility

You may wish to make larger repayments each month to pay your mortgage back faster, or move to a lender that’s more flexible with mortgage holidays. If your current lender doesn’t allow this flexibility, a new lender might.

The value of your home rises

If the value of your home has gone up by a lot since you took out your mortgage, your loan to value ratio will have also risen. This means you may be offered a lower rate. If you already have a Halifax mortgage, then you may be able to do a product transfer.

Things to consider when remortgaging

Before remortgaging, you’ll need to think about the following:

Early repayment charges

Early repayment charges are one of the main reasons you may choose not to remortgage your home.

You’ll usually be tied into a repayment period with your current lender. If you choose to leave before this is up, you might need to pay an early repayment charge.

If you have to pay an early repayment charge, this could make it more expensive to change your mortgage deal. Work out whether this will negate any savings you’d make by moving to a new lender.

The Bank of England interest rate

The Bank of England’s interest rate can also impact on whether it is a good time to remortgage or not. If it has dropped, it might be worth holding on. If it has risen, it could be a good time to look for a new fixed rate deal.

Conveyancing and surveying fees

You will need to pay for conveyancing fees to remortgage. You may also need to pay for a survey to be done on the property. Both of these can be expensive, so it may be worth seeing if staying with your current provider is cheaper.

If you choose to remortgage with us, there's no valuation fee to pay and we'll pay your basic legal fees (additional legal fees may apply).

When can you remortgage?

It’s recommended to start looking for a new mortgage deal around three months before your current fixed rate deal ends. This gives you enough time to complete the application process.

Once your initial mortgage deal ends, it will change to the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). The SVR will usually be higher than what you’re used to paying.

By remortgaging, you may be able to take advantage of another introductory offer and pay less interest on your mortgage.

The content on this page is for reference and does not constitute financial advice. For impartial financial advice, we recommend government bodies like MoneyHelper.

Related topics

How much does it cost to remortgage?

What is porting your mortgage?

How long does it take to remortgage?

What is remortgaging?

Remortgage to Halifax

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