We are often asked, do I need a solicitor to remortgage with a different lender? Unless you are staying with your existing lender and moving to a new product with them, you do need to ask a solicitor to deal with a remortgage for you. This is because your new lender needs confirmation that your property is good security for their loan. This needs to be provided by a solicitor who is on their panel of approved solicitors.

At Lockings Solicitors, we deal with remortgages for clients across East Yorkshire and beyond. We know that it is often important to move quickly to secure a deal and complete a remortgage so that you can move to a better rate.

Our remortgage solicitors are very experienced and, should a difficulty arise, they will have the expertise to deal with it quickly and effectively, reducing the risk of a delay.

We hold the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme standard. This is awarded to law firms with a high level of legal expertise, good risk management and excellent client care. Some lenders will only deal with law firms that hold this standard.

We offer a FREE initial chat so that you can ask us any questions you may have. Call us on 01482 300 200, email us at welcome@lockings.co.uk or fill in our Free Online Enquiry and we will call you back promptly. We have offices in Beverley, Hull and York and we deal with remortgaging in East Yorkshire and beyond. We are on the panels of approved solicitors of all major lenders.

Why do I need a solicitor to remortgage UK?

When you move to a new lender, they will need your solicitor to certify that your property has a sound legal title, that searches have been carried out and that the results are satisfactory (many lenders accept no search indemnity insurance which is often a cheaper and quicker solution). They will also need us to undertake to redeem your existing mortgage, remove this from the Land Registry’s records and register the new mortgage in their favour.

What does a remortgage solicitor do?

If you would like us to deal with your remortgage, we will start by verifying your identity, opening a file and letting you have the initial paperwork for completion. This will include a property information form which your lender will need you to complete and return to us.

We will obtain your title deeds and an official copy of the Land Registry’s records in respect of your property. We will ask your existing lender to provide us with a redemption statement at this stage so that you can see approximately how much they will need and what additional charges they are making. This could be an administration fee and in some cases an early repayment penalty.

Your new lender will send us your mortgage offer once they have processed your application. Once we have received the property information form from you as well as the search results (most lenders accept no search indemnity insurance which is often a cheaper and quicker solution), we will let you know if there are any questions or issues to be dealt with.

We will then be ready to move forward. You will be able to sign the mortgage deed and we will discuss the date on which you want to complete. We can then order your new loan and also ask your existing lender for an accurate redemption statement calculated to the completion date.

We will let you have a complete financial breakdown of the transaction. This will show how much we need from you to complete or, alternatively, how much will be due to you.  If you will be paying money towards the remortgage, we will let you know the date by which we will need cleared funds.

On the day of completion, once we receive the new mortgage advance, we will arrange for your former mortgage to be repaid. If there is a balance to come to you, we will let you have this.

Once your previous mortgage lender confirms that the loan has been redeemed, we will ask the Land Registry to remove it from your title and have your new mortgage registered in its place.

How long does a remortgage take?

The length of time taken to remortgage will depend largely on how busy your new lender is and how quickly they are able to process your mortgage application. While a transaction can often be completed in around two to three months, if your lender has had a large number of applications, for example, if they are offering a particularly attractive deal, then it could take longer.

If you are remortgaging a leasehold property, this can also take longer as we will need to see a range of information relating to its management.

When should I remortgage?

There are a range of circumstances in which you may wish to remortgage, including:

• You want to move to a mortgage deal with lower monthly payments
• You want to change the number of years of your mortgage, for example, if you increase the number of years, you could have lower monthly payments although you will pay more overall
• Your existing mortgage has reverted to a standard variable rate and there are cheaper deals available
• Your home has increased in value, meaning you will be eligible for a better rate as your loan-to-value ratio has changed
• You want to release some capital from your home, for example, if you want to have building work done
• You have debts to pay off and it is more economical to owe money to a mortgage lender than to other creditors
• You want to do something else at the same time, such as transfer the property into your sole name or into joint names with someone else

How much are remortgage costs?

We will let you have a clear estimate of the legal fees at the outset, as well as any other expenses. This could include the following:

• Early repayment penalty charged by your existing lender if you leave during a discounted period
• Administration or exit fee which may be charged by your existing lender
• Deeds release fee charged by some lenders to send out title deeds
• The fee for no search indemnity insurance or a Local search fee where your lender insists on searches being carried out.
• Land Registry fee to register your new mortgage

Contact our East Yorkshire remortgage solicitors

If you thinking of remortgaging, we will be happy to represent you. We know that it can be important to complete quickly and we always work proactively to avoid delays.

You can ring us for a FREE initial chat on 01482 300 200, email us at welcome@lockings.co.uk or fill in our Free Online Enquiry and we will call you back promptly. We have offices in Beverley, Hull and York and deal with remortgaging in East Yorkshire, the York area and beyond.