Remortgaging explained: how it works, when to do it and the costs

What is remortgaging?

Remortgaging means replacing the mortgage on a home you already own with a new one, without moving house. Most people do it when a fixed or tracker deal ends, so they do not move on to their lender's standard variable rate. You can switch to a new lender, or take a new deal with your current lender, which is called a product transfer. The new loan repays the old one, and your home remains the security.

A deal ending is the usual reason to switch, but not the only one. People also remortgage to borrow more, to change the term, to move between a repayment and an interest only basis, or to add or remove a borrower.

If you do nothing when a deal ends, the mortgage carries on at the lender's reversion rate, usually its standard variable rate. The guide to the standard variable rate explains what that means for your payments, and the guide to the types of mortgage explains the deals you can choose between.

How does remortgaging work?

Remortgaging with a new lender follows the same broad steps as a first mortgage, without the purchase.

A product transfer is shorter. You stay with the same lender, so there is usually no new legal charge to register and less paperwork.

Your loan to value decides which deals are open to you. It is the mortgage as a share of the home's value, and the guide to loan to value shows how the bands work.

How long does a remortgage take?

There is no fixed timetable. A switch to a new lender involves an application, a valuation and legal work, so it can take several weeks from application to completion, and longer if the lender asks for more documents. A product transfer is usually quicker, because the lender already holds the mortgage. The lender or your conveyancer can give their current timescale.

How to remortgage: where to look

You can go to lenders directly, or use a mortgage adviser who searches lenders for you. The guide to using a mortgage broker explains how advisers are paid and what to ask.

To see what lenders publish today, the mortgage rates comparison works out each lender's published rates for your home's value, your balance and your term, with 2-year fixed and 5-year fixed deals side by side. It is an illustration, not advice, and it names no product as right for you.

When to remortgage

Many people start a few months before their current deal ends, so the new mortgage can begin the day the old deal finishes.

How far ahead you can start

Under the Mortgage Charter, republished by HM Treasury on 26 March 2026, lenders that have signed it give customers who are approaching the end of a fixed rate deal the chance to lock in a new deal up to six months ahead. Those customers can also ask the same lender for a better like-for-like deal right up until the new term starts, if one is available. The Charter says its signatories represent approximately 90% of the mortgage market. Six months is the maximum under the Charter, and each lender decides how far ahead it lets you choose a deal. The Charter does not apply to buy-to-let mortgages.

If you move to a new lender, its mortgage offer lasts for a set period that the lender chooses. The length of that period decides how early an application can be made if completion is to fall on the day your current deal ends.

Switching before your deal ends

You can remortgage at any time, but leaving a fixed or discounted deal before its end date usually triggers an early repayment charge. The sum sets the size of the charge against the saving on the new deal, and it needs your own figures. The remortgage calculator compares staying put with switching, charges and fees included. If the reason for leaving is a move, porting a mortgage to the new home is the other route, where the deal allows it and the lender agrees.

If you are already on the standard variable rate, your mortgage offer shows whether any charge still applies.

Remortgage vs product transfer

A product transfer is a new deal with your current lender. A remortgage, in the stricter sense, moves the loan to a different lender.

Neither route is better in itself. A product transfer is simpler, while a new lender may or may not offer a lower total cost once fees are counted. A qualified, regulated mortgage adviser can compare both for your circumstances.

Rules that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought in on 22 July 2025 made it easier to discuss your options with a lender, while keeping the option to take advice. If you choose a deal without advice after talking it through with the firm, the firm must tell you that you will not have the protection of the rules on assessing suitability, and you must confirm that you understand this.

Remortgaging costs and early repayment charges

The costs fall into two groups: the cost of leaving your current deal, and the cost of setting up the new one.

• An early repayment charge, if you leave during a deal. Under FCA rules it must be stated as a cash value and be a reasonable pre-estimate of the lender's costs, and it is shown in your mortgage illustration and offer.
• An exit or closing fee charged by the lender you leave, if your contract has one.
• A product or arrangement fee for the new deal. It can often be added to the loan, in which case you pay interest on it.
• A valuation fee, where the new lender charges one.
• Legal fees for the conveyancing, where they are not included in the deal.
• An adviser's fee, if you use an adviser who charges one.

The guide to mortgage fees explains each fee and when it falls due.

For your own figures, use the remortgage calculator, which adds the fees and any early repayment charge to the payments on each option.

Affordability and valuation checks on a remortgage

The affordability check

How much checking you face depends on what you change.

• Same lender, nothing else changing. The Mortgage Charter says customers who are up to date with their payments can switch to a new deal at the end of a fixed rate without another affordability check, where they are not borrowing more or changing the repayment type or the term.
• New lender, no extra borrowing. FCA rules let a lender use a lighter, modified affordability assessment where the new mortgage costs you less than your current one or, since 22 July 2025, less than a new deal your current lender has offered. You must have had no missed payments outstanding now or at any point in the previous 12 months, and the new mortgage must be secured on the same property. The rule is optional, so a lender can still choose to run a full assessment.
• Borrowing more. The lighter assessment is not available, so a full affordability assessment applies, as it would on a new mortgage. Adding the new deal's product fee to the loan does not count as borrowing more for this purpose.

The guide to mortgage affordability sets out what lenders count, and the how much you could borrow calculator gives an illustration.

The valuation

A new lender values the home to set the loan to value. Some lenders send a surveyor, and some rely on a desk-based or automated estimate. If the figure is lower than you expected, your loan to value is higher, and the deals in a lower band may no longer be open to you.

Remortgage to release equity

Equity is the part of the home's value that is not mortgaged. Remortgaging to release equity means taking a new, larger mortgage and receiving the difference as cash, often for home improvements.

The points to weigh are:

• You owe more, so you pay more interest in total, and the debt takes longer to clear unless your payments rise.
• A higher loan to value can put you in a band with different rates.
• The lender runs a full affordability assessment, and commonly asks what the money is for.
• Short-term debts moved on to the mortgage become secured on your home and are usually repaid over many more years, which can cost more overall.
• Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on the mortgage.
• If you are still inside a deal, an early repayment charge may apply.

Your current lender may offer extra borrowing as a further advance, without moving the whole mortgage. A qualified, regulated mortgage adviser can compare a further advance with remortgaging for your circumstances.

Releasing equity in this way is not the same as equity release, which usually means a lifetime mortgage for older homeowners.

Remortgaging a new build after the first deal ends

The first remortgage on a new build has a few points of its own.

The valuation and the price you paid

When you bought, the valuation was of a brand-new home sold by its builder. When you remortgage, the home is valued as it stands in today's market. That figure may be above or below the price you paid, and the lender works out your loan to value from the valuation, not from the purchase price.

If you bought with a small deposit, a lower valuation can leave you in a higher band than you planned for. Regular overpayments during the first deal reduce what you owe before that point; the guide to mortgage overpayment sets out what to weigh.

Help to Buy equity loans

If you bought in England with a Help to Buy equity loan, GOV.UK guidance from Homes England says you need its permission before you remortgage with a new lender, and an administration fee applies. Borrowing more also needs permission, which is given only for set purposes, such as repaying all or part of the equity loan. A new deal with your current lender, without extra borrowing, does not need an application, although the lender may need a deed of postponement. The permission step adds time to a switch.

The guide to new build mortgages covers how lenders treat new homes when you first buy.

Remortgaging checklist

1. Find the end date of your deal, any early repayment charge and any exit fee.
2. Ask your lender for your current balance.
3. Estimate the home's value and your loan to value.
4. Ask your current lender which deals it offers and how far ahead you can choose one.
5. Compare other lenders' published deals on the mortgage rates comparison, as an illustration.
6. Add up fees and charges for each option with the remortgage calculator.
7. If you want advice, speak to a qualified, regulated mortgage adviser.
8. Check that the new deal can start on the day your current one ends.

The mortgage hub gathers the calculators, the lenders' published rates and the other mortgage guides.