The standard variable rate and the end of your deal

What is a standard variable rate?

A standard variable rate (SVR) is the interest rate a mortgage lender charges on its standard mortgage, with no special deal attached. Each lender sets its own SVR and can raise or lower it, so your monthly payment can change. Most borrowers move onto it automatically when a fixed, tracker or discount deal ends, and it is usually higher than the lender's other rates.

That last point is the one that matters for most people. Few borrowers choose an SVR at the start. They arrive on it because a deal has run out and nothing has been arranged to replace it.

MoneyHelper, the government-backed guidance service, says each lender sets its own SVR, and that it is usually higher than the lender's other mortgage products. There is no single SVR for the country: every lender has its own, and they differ.

How an SVR differs from a tracker and from Bank Rate

The three are easy to confuse, because they often move at about the same time.

The Bank of England describes Bank Rate as the core interest rate in the UK, and says it influences the rates banks charge on loans. It says lenders usually raise what they charge on loans when Bank Rate rises and cut it when Bank Rate falls. An SVR is not tied to Bank Rate, though: nothing in the rate itself makes a lender pass on a cut in full, or at once, and its terms may let it raise the SVR when Bank Rate has not moved. A tracker has no such freedom: its rate is the tracked rate plus the margin in the contract.

This site does not state today's rates in its guides, because they change. The mortgage rates comparison shows lenders' published rates, including the rate each deal reverts to, and the rates news page records changes to the base rate.

The reversion rate, explained

Your mortgage offer and your yearly statement may not say "standard variable rate" at all. They may say "reversion rate" or "follow-on rate".

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) describes a reversion rate as the interest rate you pay when your initial fixed or discounted rate ends. It says this is often a standard variable rate but can be another type of rate, and that it will typically be higher than the rate on the deal.

So the reversion rate is the role, and the SVR is the rate that most often plays it. Your mortgage offer names the rate your loan reverts to, and the APRC on the offer is worked out assuming you stay on it for the rest of the term. The types of mortgage guide explains the APRC and each rate type.

What happens when a fixed rate ends

Nothing happens to the loan itself. You owe the same amount, over the same remaining term, to the same lender. What changes is the rate, and with it the monthly payment.

In order, this is what to expect:

1. Before the end date. The FCA's mortgages market study found that lenders typically contact customers ahead of a rate change such as the end of an introductory deal. The lender must also give you reasonable notice, in advance, of the change to your payment.
2. On the end date. If you have arranged a new deal, it starts. If you have not, the loan moves to the reversion rate automatically. You do not need to sign anything for this to happen.
3. After the end date. Your payment changes to reflect the new rate. Because a reversion rate is normally higher than a deal rate, the payment usually goes up.
4. From then on. The early repayment charge from the old deal no longer applies, so you are usually free to switch, remortgage, overpay or repay.

To see the difference in pounds, the remortgage calculator compares the cost of staying on a rate with the cost of moving to a new one, fees included. It is an illustration, not advice.

How much notice does the lender give?

There are two kinds of notice, and it helps to keep them apart.

Notice that your deal is ending. The end date is in your mortgage offer, so you can know it from day one. As of November 2026 the FCA's mortgage rulebook contains no rule that sets a number of weeks or months for a reminder that a deal is ending. When a trade body suggested extra disclosure at the end of a fixed rate period, the FCA replied in its July 2025 policy statement that it did not believe further disclosure to encourage customers to consider other lenders was appropriate at that time, and that it would look at disclosure as part of its wider review of the mortgage market. In practice lenders do write: the FCA's mortgages market study found that lenders typically contact customers ahead of a rate change such as the end of an introductory deal. Lenders that have signed the government's Mortgage Charter, which GOV.UK says represent about 90% of the mortgage market, have also agreed to provide well-timed information to help customers plan ahead when a rate is due to end.

Notice that your payment is changing. The FCA's mortgage rules require a lender to give you reasonable notice, in advance, of any change to your payments that results from an interest rate change. The rules do not turn "reasonable" into a set number of days. The duty covers the move to the reversion rate when a deal ends and each change the lender makes to its SVR afterwards.

Waiting for the letter is not the only option. Under the Mortgage Charter, customers approaching the end of a fixed rate can lock in a new deal up to six months ahead, and can still ask for a different like-for-like deal with the same lender until the new term starts, if one is available. The Charter covers residential mortgages with the lenders that have signed it, not buy-to-let.

Product transfer or remortgage

When a deal ends you have three routes: a new deal with your current lender, a new mortgage with another lender, or staying on the reversion rate.

The FCA says a borrower who is up to date with payments can normally switch to a new deal with the existing lender without passing an affordability check, unless they want to borrow more, with some exceptions. A new lender will usually assess affordability as it would for a new borrower. Since 22 July 2025 the FCA's rules have let a new lender use a modified affordability assessment for a borrower who is not borrowing more and is moving to a mortgage that costs less than the current one, or less than a deal on offer from the current lender. Lenders choose whether to use it.

Your loan to value matters on either route, because the deals open to you depend on how much you owe compared with what the home is worth. The loan to value guide explains how it changes over time, and the remortgaging guide covers the steps, the fees and the timing. A qualified, regulated mortgage adviser can compare a product transfer with a remortgage for your circumstances.

When people stay on the SVR

Staying on a standard variable rate usually costs more each month than a deal would. Some borrowers still stay on it for a time, and the reason is nearly always the same: an SVR usually has no early repayment charge.

Typical situations are:

• About to move home. Someone selling within a few months may not want to start a deal that charges them for leaving it. Some deals can be moved to a new home, which is called porting a mortgage; whether a deal allows it is in its terms.
• About to repay the loan. A borrower with a small balance, or with a lump sum on the way, can repay in full or in part without a charge.
• Planning large overpayments. Deals often limit penalty-free overpayments to a share of the balance each year. On an SVR there is usually no limit. The mortgage overpayment calculator shows what an overpayment does to the term and the interest.
• A very small remaining balance. Where little is owed, a product fee on a new deal can outweigh what a lower rate would save.
• Between deals. A gap of a few weeks can open up if a remortgage completes later than planned.

Whether any of these applies to you is a personal judgement. The sums depend on the two rates, the balance, the fees and how long you expect to stay.

Mortgage prisoners

Some borrowers are on a reversion rate because they cannot leave it. The FCA uses the term "mortgage prisoners" for borrowers who are up to date with their payments but cannot switch to a new deal when it might benefit them, because their loan or their circumstances fall outside what lenders will currently accept. Many took out mortgages before the 2008 financial crisis with lenders that later stopped lending, and whose loans now sit in closed books or with firms that are not authorised to offer new mortgages. FCA analysis, first published in January 2020 and last updated in September 2022, counted around 250,000 people in closed mortgage books or with mortgages owned by firms it does not regulate, about 170,000 of whom were up to date with payments. Rules the FCA made in October 2019 let a new lender assess such a borrower on their record of making mortgage payments in place of a full income and spending check, provided they are not borrowing more, although lenders are not required to do so. MoneyHelper has a page of help for mortgage prisoners.

Standard variable rates and new-build buyers

For someone buying a new-build home, the SVR feels a long way off. It still belongs in the sums you do before you reserve.

• The end of your first deal. The payment after the deal ends is part of the cost of the mortgage. The mortgage rates comparison shows it beside the initial payment for each published rate.
• Builder-funded rates. Some builder incentives pay towards a lower rate for the first deal period. When that period ends, the loan reverts like any other, so look at the payment afterwards as well as the payment at the start. The new-build mortgages guide explains how lenders treat incentives.
• Your equity at the first remortgage. The deals open to you when the first deal ends depend on what the home is worth then compared with the loan.

A checklist for the end of your deal

1. Find the end date on your mortgage offer, or ask your lender for it.
2. Six months before, ask your lender which deals it would offer you.
3. Check the early repayment charge and the date it stops applying.
4. Compare the lender's deals with what other lenders publish, including fees.
5. Work out your loan to value from your balance and a realistic value for the home.
6. If your plans are uncertain, ask how each option treats moving home, overpaying and leaving early.
7. Speak to a qualified, regulated mortgage adviser if you want a recommendation.