As with any mortgage process, remortgage timescales can take anything up to two months depending on how complicated your application or circumstances are. If you’re remortgaging to save money when your existing fixed-rate mortgage comes to an end, ensure you give your application sufficient time to avoid a more expensive follow-on or standard variable rate.
You’ll need to go through a mortgage interview to ensure you’re eligible for a remortgage. Lenders apply strict affordability criteria to remortgage applications and stress tests to see if you’ll be able to meet your monthly repayments should interest rates change.
Your lender will also want to conduct a valuation of your home to ensure your loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is sufficient for its products. If the value of your home has decreased and you’re in a negative equity situation, you might want to wait for house prices to rise or you’ll have to make up the shortfall from your own pocket.
Finally, the legal process will take time. Your solicitor will have a number of conveyancing matters to complete, including Land Registry searches and other formalities that may hold up the process.
If time is of the essence, it might be worth arranging a remortgage through your existing lender. The transaction will then be dealt with as a product transfer so the legal process could be substantially reduced and this will be much quicker.
If you’re keen to remortgage your home, you should take advice from an independent mortgage broker who will be impartial and have access to a wide range of products on the market. Call us on 0330 333 5065 or email us on info@railwaymortgages.com to make an enquiry.
