Helping you find a better deal
We’re closed to new business and can’t offer additional borrowing or new mortgage deals, such as fixed-rate mortgages, to our customers. Because your interest rate and monthly payments could be higher with us than elsewhere, you may want to consider remortgaging to another lender to find a new deal.
If you have an interest only mortgage and you’re approaching the end of its term, you’ll need to consider your options. We can’t always offer term extensions, so you’ll need to have a plan in place to repay the mortgage balance. Remortgaging with a new lender is one way you could repay it.
Whatever position you’re in, there’s information on this page to help you consider your next steps.
Find a new mortgage deal
To remortgage with a new lender, we recommend you speak to an independent mortgage broker to discuss your situation and get their help to find you a new deal that better meets your needs.
You can visit the Unbiased website to find a broker. After you provide some basic details about the value of your home, how much you currently owe, your income and your age, you’ll be matched with a broker who will contact you to arrange an initial free, no-obligation chat. If you go ahead with a deal arranged by your broker you may be charged a fee for their services, so you may want to confirm this with them.
You can easily find out how much you owe by signing into Self-Serve to view your mortgage balance or get an instant redemption estimate. (Self-Serve is unavailable for Mortgage accounts held only in the name of a Limited Company)
Once you have found a broker, we recommend you check their details on the Financial Services Register.
If you can’t remortgage now – you can still take action
Not everyone will meet the criteria new lenders use to decide whether they’ll offer a mortgage. That can be really frustrating, especially if you’re making your current mortgage payments in full and on time. However, if you can’t get a new deal now, that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps that will improve your chances of getting a new mortgage in the future.
Make overpayments
If you can afford them, making overpayments could help to improve your position and it may be easier to remortgage in future. You may not see the benefits immediately, but it could help you in the long term.
Overpayments will reduce the balance you owe and could improve the loan to value ratio of your mortgage. This is the amount you owe compared to how much your property is worth. If the loan to value reduces, you could become eligible for better mortgage deals with more lenders in the future.
You can make additional payments every month or a one-off lump sum payment when you can. Overpayments are easy to set up or make, and you won’t be charged any fees for making them. You decide what you can afford, and you can change this amount at any time.
Reducing the amount you owe, also means you’ll pay less interest over the term of your mortgage. Even small regular amounts can make a difference. A regular overpayment of £50 or £100 a month can positively reduce the interest you pay and could shorten your mortgage term.
See how an overpayment can make a difference
In this example, a customer has a £90,000 mortgage on interest only with seven years remaining on their term. They’re paying an interest rate of 7.99% and their property is worth £115,000.
- Overpayments of just £100 a month would save them £11,207 in interest payments over the remaining term.
- At the end of the term, the balance owed will have reduced from £90,000 to £78,793 – a reduction of £11,207.
- Depending on what happens with house prices the loan to value of their mortgage will reduce with each payment. This could create more possibilities to remortgage elsewhere.
Please note – these figures assume the customer makes their normal monthly payments on time and in full over the remaining term of their mortgage, with no changes to the interest rate over the period.
Use our overpayment calculator
See for yourself – you can use our calculator to see the impact of making overpayments on your mortgage, both regular amounts or as a lump sum. Why not try some different overpayment amounts to see how much you could save in total interest and how much you’ll owe us at the end of your mortgage term.
Check your credit rating
Lenders will perform a credit check when you apply for a mortgage, and if you have a lower credit score, your application might be turned down.
There are steps you can take to improve your score.
Check your credit rating
It could be that your credit rating is stopping you from getting a new mortgage. There are many free credit check services available online which allow you to view and understand your credit rating. They also suggest ways you could improve it.
Customers with a higher credit score can often access lower interest rates, which could make borrowing cheaper and save money.
To find information about why your credit rating is important when borrowing money go to the MoneyHelper website and search for ‘credit rating.’
Improve your credit rating
Once you look into your credit score, you might want to see if you can improve it.
There are four agencies that gather credit information– Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva – so if needed you can check all four in advance of any application. Checking your score is free, and you might be able to see if there is anything you can do to improve your rating.
The MoneyHelper website has details on what you need to do.
More help and information
MoneyHelper offers free, impartial guidance that’s backed by the government, to ensure that people have free access to the information and guidance they need to make effective financial decisions over their lifetime.
To find more information about the challenges of remortgaging for a new deal, go to the MoneyHelper website and search for topics such as ‘struggling to remortgage,’ or ‘negative equity.’
Other information on our website that might be useful
Useful tools & calculators
Our calculators will help you consider some of your options by illustrating the impact on your mortgage.
Redeeming your account
Find out all the information if you’re redeeming (paying off) your mortgage with us.
Please note, this page contains links to external websites. We are not responsible for the content of external websites.