Remortgage
Whether your current deal is ending, you want to release equity, or you simply want a better rate, remortgaging replaces your existing mortgage with a new one – sometimes with your current lender, sometimes with a different one entirely.
What Remortgaging Actually Means
Remortgaging means taking out a new mortgage on a property you already own, replacing your current arrangement. This can involve moving to a different lender for genuinely better terms, or staying with your existing lender and simply switching to a new deal – what’s specifically called a Product Transfer, worth understanding as the faster, lower-paperwork alternative to remortgaging with a new provider.
The Six Most Common Reasons People Remortgage
Most homeowners remortgage for one or two of these reasons, occasionally three together.
Your Current Deal Is Ending
This is genuinely the most common trigger. Once a fixed, tracker, or discount period ends, you’re automatically moved onto your lender’s Standard Variable Rate, which is almost always considerably more expensive. On a £200,000 mortgage, even a modest rate increase can add well over £300 a month. You can typically lock in a new deal up to six months before your current one ends, so there’s genuinely no need to ever land on the SVR if you plan ahead.
Securing a Genuinely Better Rate
Even outside your deal ending, if your property has increased in value or you’ve paid down a meaningful chunk of your mortgage, your loan-to-value may have improved enough to access considerably better rates than when you first borrowed.
Releasing Equity
Many homeowners remortgage specifically to release some of the equity built up in their property, commonly for home improvements, though it’s worth calculating whether the improvement genuinely offsets the extra borrowing over time, or simply for other significant costs. Our Further Advance Mortgages page covers a related, often faster route to raising additional funds while staying with your existing lender.
Consolidating Debt
Some homeowners use a remortgage to roll existing unsecured debt into their mortgage, genuinely reducing the interest rate on that debt, though extending it over a much longer term. Our Debt Consolidation page covers the genuine risks and trade-offs of this approach in full detail, worth reading properly before committing.
Life Changes
Starting a family, a change in income, or another significant life event can mean your existing mortgage no longer genuinely fits your circumstances, worth reviewing alongside your broker.
Remortgaging a Property You Own Outright
If you own your home with no existing mortgage, you can still remortgage – sometimes called an unencumbered remortgage – to release funds against the property, assessed on broadly similar terms to a standard purchase mortgage, since you’re borrowing fresh money against an asset you already fully own.
How the Process Actually Works
Most lenders let you obtain an Agreement in Principle without a full credit check, giving you a genuine sense of what’s realistically available before committing to a specific deal. Once you’ve chosen a product and formally applied, your new lender carries out a full credit check and arranges a property valuation, similar to a standard purchase. A solicitor or conveyancer then handles the legal transfer, with your new lender’s funds used to pay off your existing mortgage before the new arrangement is registered with the Land Registry.
Realistic Timescales
Most remortgages complete within four to eight weeks from application, though having your documentation genuinely ready from the outset – proof of income, identity, and address – helps keep things moving as quickly as possible.
Choosing Your New Rate Type
Once you’re remortgaging, you’ll typically be choosing between the same rate types available to any borrower. Our Fixed-Rate Mortgages and Variable-Rate Mortgages pages cover these options in full detail, worth comparing properly rather than defaulting to whatever your existing lender first offers.
Early Repayment Charges
If you’re still within a fixed or discounted period on your current deal, remortgaging before it ends will typically trigger an Early Repayment Charge, commonly a percentage of your outstanding balance. It’s worth weighing this cost honestly against the savings a new deal would genuinely offer, since a large ERC can sometimes outweigh the benefit of switching early.
Moving House Instead of Remortgaging
If you’re planning to move to a new property rather than staying in your current home, this is a genuinely different process – our Home Mover Mortgages page covers porting your existing deal or arranging a new one when you move.
Why Working With a Broker Matters Here
Given how many genuinely different reasons and routes exist for remortgaging, and how much rates and criteria vary between lenders, working with a broker who can compare your options across the whole market helps ensure you’re choosing the right route for your specific circumstances, rather than defaulting to whichever deal is presented first.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start looking at remortgaging?
Most lenders let you lock in a new deal up to six months before your current one ends, worth starting the process well ahead of time to avoid landing on the more expensive Standard Variable Rate.
Can I remortgage a property I own outright?
Yes – this is sometimes called an unencumbered remortgage, letting you release funds against a property with no existing mortgage.
Will I face an Early Repayment Charge if I remortgage early?
Possibly, if you’re still within a fixed or discounted period – worth checking your specific mortgage’s terms and weighing the charge against the savings a new deal would offer.
What’s the difference between remortgaging and a product transfer?
Remortgaging can involve switching to a new lender entirely; a product transfer means staying with your existing lender and simply switching to one of their other deals.
How long does remortgaging typically take?
Commonly four to eight weeks from application to completion, similar to a standard purchase mortgage.
Get in touch with details of your current mortgage and circumstances, and we’ll help you understand whether remortgaging, and which specific route, genuinely suits you.
