When your current mortgage deal comes to an end, you’ve got a few options available to you. You could stay with your current mortgage provider and switch to a new product or you could re-mortgage to a new lender. In this short blog I’m going to explain the key benefits of both options.
The first option is to stay with your current lender and opt for a product transfer. This involves you switching from your current deal when it expires to a new existing borrower deal with the same lender. There are a number of key benefits to doing this, the first benefit is that the lender will not conduct any further affordability checks, so if your income position has changed, perhaps you’ve gone on maternity leave, reduced your hours or changed to a lower paid job, this option may be beneficial for you.
Secondly, the lender will not conduct any credit checks, so likewise if your credit position has changed, perhaps if you’ve taken out more credit commitments such as a bank loan, credit card, or car finance, which would typically hinder the amount you can borrow, this will not be taken into
consideration by the lender.
Also, there will be no legal work involved so no paperwork to complete or fees to pay. Lastly, the underwriting is minimal, so a product transfer can take place a lot sooner than a re-mortgage could, this could be a benefit if your deal expires shortly and time is of the essence.
The alternative option is to re-mortgage to a new lender, a whole of market mortgage broker will have access to over 100 different lenders and thousands of products so there is more opportunity for a lower interest rate and to reduce your monthly mortgage payments.
A re-mortgage application would however be subject to full underwriting which includes an affordability and credit check, the underwriting process can take anything from 2-6 weeks. There are normally a number of incentives offered to encourage you to move to a new lender such as a free valuation, free legal work and cashback.
I would recommend that you seek some professional to find out the most suitable option based on your circumstances. it’s important to be organised and to start thinking about your options well ahead of the mortgage expiry date, I would recommend you start considering your options around 6 months beforehand.
I hope you found this blog useful. If you’ve got any questions or queries, feel free to reach out to me and thank you for reading.
