When should you remortgage?
Start six months out. The day your fixed rate ends is the day you start paying the SVR (Standard Variable Rate). That is the most expensive month of the year.
If your existing rate is ending in the next six months, you should already be looking at the next product. The market moves daily, lender pricing changes, and your existing lender will roll you onto the SVR (Standard Variable Rate) the moment your deal expires. The SVR is rarely competitive. Most cases need six to ten weeks from start to completion, so leaving it to the last month is how people end up paying hundreds extra for no reason. We start the conversation early and lock in the right product at the right time. You may have to pay an early repayment charge to your existing lender if you remortgage.
Who this is for
- Your existing fixed or tracker rate ends in the next 3 to 6 months.
- You are already on your lender SVR and paying more than you need to.
- You want to know whether to lock in now or wait for rates to move.
- Your circumstances have changed (income up, income down, new job, new baby) and you want to see what the case looks like today.
The six-month window
Most lenders let you secure a new product up to six months before your existing deal ends. You hold the offer, you keep watching the market, and if a better rate appears before your switch date you can usually swap onto the cheaper one. If rates rise in the meantime, you have already locked in protection. There is very little downside to starting early.
Why the SVR is the trap
The SVR (Standard Variable Rate) is the rate your lender rolls you onto automatically the day your fixed or tracker product ends. It is usually a good deal more expensive than the products a lender offers to new business, and the size of that gap moves with the market, so it is worth checking your own lender SVR against what you could switch to rather than assuming. The lender is not the bad guy here, you simply did not switch in time.
Worked example, the SVR cost on a £250,000 mortgage
You are coming off a 4.2% fix on a £250,000 25-year repayment mortgage. Monthly payment around £1,348. Your lender SVR is 7.5%, an illustrative figure only, because SVRs vary by lender and change over time. If you do nothing, your monthly payment jumps to around £1,847. That is £499 a month or £5,988 a year of avoidable cost. Whether a new product beats that, and by how much, depends on the rates available when you switch and on your own case. Starting early is what keeps the option open.
What changes the answer
Your loan-to-value (LTV, the percentage of the property value you still owe), your credit profile, your income mix and the rate environment all move the answer. A case that looked tight two years ago may now sit in a much cheaper bucket because you have repaid capital and the property has appreciated. Pushing from 80% LTV to 75% LTV is often a 0.2 to 0.4 percentage-point rate improvement; pushing from 75% to 60% is another 0.2 to 0.4. We model whether overpaying a small lump sum to cross a tier is worth it.
Doing nothing costs money
The single most common mistake we see is waiting until the last week. By then the realistic options are a product transfer (PT, your existing lender offering you a new fixed rate without a full re-underwrite) or the SVR. Both are usually beaten by a proper market remortgage if you give yourself the runway.
Common pitfalls we see
Letting the rate end without switching and rolling onto SVR for one or two months while paperwork catches up. Picking the lender PT offer because the letter arrived before any other broker called, without comparing the other available options. Forgetting that a remortgage involves valuation and legal work that takes time even on a clean case. Underestimating the impact of recent credit applications on the new affordability check. We diary the switch date 26 weeks out and start work then.
How Major Money Matters helps
Specific things we do for this case type. No generic platitudes.
Diary the six-month window
We mark your switch date the moment we onboard you. We come back to you 26 weeks before your rate ends, not 4 weeks before.
Hold the rate, watch the market
We secure an offer early and re-broke if a better rate appears. You keep the upside without the deadline panic.
Compare PT against full remortgage
Product transfers (your lender offering a new rate without re-underwriting) are quick but not always the most competitive option. We compare both, on numbers.
Re-stress the case for circumstances
Income changes, debt changes, new dependants. We re-look at the case as it is today, not as it was at original application.
Frequently asked questions
How early can I start the remortgage process?
Six months before your existing deal ends. Most lenders allow new offers to be held for that long. Anything earlier and the offer expires before you can use it. Anything later and you risk falling onto the SVR.
What happens if I do nothing?
The day your existing fixed or tracker rate ends, your lender rolls you onto its SVR (Standard Variable Rate). That rate is almost always materially higher than what is available on a new product. You stay on it until you switch.
Should I remortgage if rates are higher than my current deal?
Sometimes yes. Doing nothing means rolling onto the SVR which is typically higher again. The right comparison is new-product rate versus SVR, not new-product rate versus the deal you are leaving.
Can I switch part-way through my fixed rate?
Yes, but you would usually pay an ERC (Early Repayment Charge), often 1% to 5% of the loan. We run the maths on whether the saving outweighs the ERC. Sometimes it does, often it does not.
How long does a remortgage take?
Six to ten weeks from start to completion is typical. Application, valuation, legal work and lender sign-off are the four stages. Starting early is the only way to make sure you complete before your existing rate ends.
Related
Closest siblings to this scenario. Worth a read.
Product transfer vs remortgage: what's the difference?
PT is fast and easy. A remortgage usually wins on price. We compare both, on numbers.
Read moreWhat are the costs of remortgaging?
Lender, legal, valuation, broker. We surface every fee up-front so the all-in number is clear.
Read moreHow soon can you remortgage before your fixed rate ends?
Six months out is the standard window. We hold the offer and re-broke if a better rate appears.
Read moreWhat our clients say
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Talk to a real remortgage adviser
A quick 15-minute call tells you when to start, what your existing rate is really costing you, and what the realistic next step looks like.
Named adviser, wherever possible. No call centre. We aim to return your call as quickly as we can. Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm, weekend appointments on request.