Santander offer to transfer us to new deal prior to end of current deal with them

greefs

We have just received letter from Santander, our current mortgage deal with them ends in October. They are suggesting we transfer to one of their new deals early, with no early repayment charge and no legal or valuation fees. I am a little suspicious as we have never before had such an offer from an existing lender, and in fact have always approached our existing lender prior to remortgaging in the hope that they would offer a competetive deal, always unsuccessfully! We are in the situation that 60% of our mortgage is interest only, the endowments all maturing through 2013. We also have around 23000 on a repayment basis which is due to be paid off by 2019, although our intention is to overpay once our mortgage outgoings reduce. We have at least 50% equity. I had intended looking at remortgage process in August, as advised by L&C, who we have used in the past, but the Santander letter indicates that we need to contact them by 8th July to take advantage of their offer. I am aware we need to avoid a tie in situation bearing in mind the endowments maturing. Have others received similar offers from their own mortgage companies? I'd be grateful for your comments and advice

kingstreet

Watch out for the penalties, as you're doing and make sure you compare what they're offering with other options in the market.

greefs

Just spoken to Santander, they are offering several deals, one of which is lifetime tracker at 3.09% above base rate with 899 payable in fees, no early repayment penalties. I am waiting for a call back from L&C as I am sure there are better lifetime tracker rates currently available with similar fees. The advantage of taking up Santander's offer would be that the new deal would start straight away, rather than waiting until October.