A Guide to Remortgages in Leicester: Top Reasons to Consider

Remortgage Broker in Leicester

The mortgage journey can have both positives and negatives along the way, but by the end of it, you will end up with one of the following outcomes; you’ll have a dream home to possibly raise a family in, a stepping stone property to help you climb the property ladder, or you could have an investment property that you are able to rent out.

Regardless of the initial path that you took, eventually you will find that your mortgages’ fixed period is coming to an end. At this point you could possibly look to upsize or downsize into a newer home. Some landlords perhaps look to sell their portfolio or sell a home to the tenant.

We find, however, that a more popular option is for homeowners to remortgage their home instead.

What is a Remortgage?

First of all, let’s look at what defines a remortgage in Leicester. In short, a remortgage is where you use funds raised from a new mortgage, to pay off a mortgage you already have. There are a lot of different ways this can be done, each with their own benefits.

Making use of the over 20 years of knowledge that the “Moneyman” Malcolm Davidson (host of our YouTube channel MoneymanTV) has, we have put together a useful guide to all of the options that may be available to you when the time comes to remortgage.

Remortgage For Better Interest Rates

Your initial fixed period will typically last somewhere within the realm of 2-5 years and will generally have lower fixed rates or potential discounted rates. Depending on your case, you may even be placed on a tracker mortgage, which will follow along with the Bank of England’s base rate.

Once that initial fixed term ends, it is likely that you will be placed onto the lenders Standard Variable Rate (often shortened to SVR). Basically, an SVR is a mortgage with a potentially fluctuating interest rate that is dependant on what the lender themselves chooses to charge.

Whilst this does not follow the Bank of England’s base rate in the same way a tracker mortgage does, these fluctuations have been known to come about as and when there are any changes to the base rate or the market. For example, if the base rate increases, your lender may push their rate even higher.

Because of this, Standard Variable Rates tend to be pretty expensive options to take, which is why a lot of homeowners would much rather remortgage for better rates. The hope is that in doing so, you’ll be saving yourself some money on a monthly basis.

Remortgage For Home Improvements

Once you have gotten a few years into occupying your home, you may be looking for a change. Rather than move home to accommodate these changes, lots of homeowners instead look to remortgage to release equity, to cover the costs of these.

There’s lots of popular changes we hear of customers looking to achieve. Perhaps you’re in need of more space for your family or possessions. Maybe you’ve been looking to refurbish the kitchen. Some may look to convert their loft into a bedroom or a spare room into an office.

Though the idea of obtaining planning permission and managing your own project can seem intimidating, many who have done so would argue it’s a lot less stressful and a lot more rewarding than finding a new home altogether.

This may work out a lot better for the future too, as creating additional space and having good quality craftsmanship is something that is likely to increase the worth of your home. If you were to ever sell your home and move elsewhere, this would be very useful.

Remortgage for Changes to Your Term

Depending on your case, you may simply wish to remortgage in Leicester in order to access a better term. This can either be done by reducing the length of your mortgage term or by switching to a more flexible mortgage product.

Reducing the length of your term will mean that you aren’t paying back or restricted for as long, but it will most likely mean higher monthly mortgage payments for you. The longer your term is, the lower your monthly mortgage payments should be.

Some will choose for a more flexible mortgage term when the time comes to remortgage. Doing so may allow you to overpay, meaning you could pay your mortgage off quicker, as well as possibly having the option to carry the same mortgage and rates over to a different home, should you ever wish to move home.

Though this may sound like the ideal path to take, they are generally tracker mortgages, which as we touched upon before, will follow the Bank of England base rate. This makes your monthly payments a little unreliable, as depending on base rate changes, they could fluctuate in cost.

Remortgage to Release Equity

Unless a serious market crash were to occur, every homeowner will have some amount of equity in their property. Your amount is worked out as the difference between property value and your mortgage balance.

As mentioned before, people will generally remortgage to release equity as a means of funding home improvements, though there are other options for this also.

Some will use their released equity to cover long-term care costs, whereas others may use it as a boost to their income. Other popular options include to pay for a large holiday, to pay off an interest-only mortgage that is in your name or to free up some spending money.

Occasionally, we find that Buy-to-Let landlords will remortgage to release equity from a property in their portfolio, as a means of covering the deposit for a future property purchase.

Equity Release in Leicester is a possibility for those who are aged 55+ and own a home that is valued at least £70,000. Explore your options by getting in touch with an expert later life mortgage advisor who can provide further information and assist you through your process.

Remortgage to Consolidate Debt

Another reason why a homeowner may remortgage to release equity, is to pay off any unsecured debts that you may have unfortunately built up over time.

Though it seems straightforward in concept, gaining access to a debt consolidation remortgage not only bases the amount you are looking to borrow on how much you owe a creditor and what your property is worth, but also your credit rating. This means that you could have a limited borrowing capacity.

On top of this, in order to fully pay off your previous mortgage and the debts you have gathered, you will have to borrow more than the mortgage amount. This means you will most likely have higher mortgage payments per month.

Though this is not at all an ideal situation, you’ll at least find solace in knowing that should your financial state take a turn for the worse, there are options for you to explore.

If your credit rating ends up particularly damaged, it’s not completely the end of the road, though it will likely be very difficult and require specialist remortgage advice in Leicester before you are able to proceed. Even in taking that step, a mortgage is not guaranteed.

Homeowners should always take out specialist mortgage advice before beginning the process of consolidating and securing debts against their home.

Book Your Free Remortgage Review with a Mortgage Advisor in Leicester

If you are nearing the end of your primary fixed period and are considering your options for a remortgage in Leicester, we would love to speak with you. Book your free remortgage review with a trusted mortgage advisor in Leicester today. We have time slots available all throughout the week, from early until late.

One of our dedicated mortgage advisors will be able to discuss your case and any future plans you have, in order to create the most appropriate next steps for you to take on your mortgage journey. We aim to make sure that this process is quicker and smoother than when you first took out a mortgage!