Santander VS Leeds BS?

JonnyCat

Currently researching mortgages for our first home, we're in quite a good position re deposit so have a few Mortgage quotes, e.g.
- Santander 2yr fix at 3.39% (25yr), free valuation, £250 cashback, £995 completion. Apparently able to move really fast, which would be great for us.
- Leeds BS, various options e.g. 2yr fixed 2.9% if we take out their buildings insurance (also a 3yr-fixed option available to us), fees higher (booking £200, valuation £750, completiong £800). Alternative 2-year fixed fee-assisted (booking £200, valuation £400, no completion upfront) at 3.19% if building insurance taken out with them (or 3-yr at 3.45%).

We're in a bit of a hurry to move, so have 3 questions:
1; Anyone know if Leeds BS building insurance is good/expensive? (if latter then mortgage rate may be equivalent of no better than Santander!)
2; Anyone had experience of Santander or Leeds BS? Did you find their mortgage dept efficient & helpful? Santander say they should have the mortgage valuation done within a couple of days of application, and the mortgage available within 2 weeks
3; Anyone got any other comments? What would happen if we took out a mortgage with a bank and they went under during the mortgage? Presumably just get moved to another provider?

Thanks for ANY opinions

betmunch

OK, from the title of your post I seemed to think you were asking, whats more painful, gouging your eyes out with rusty spoons, or rusty forks?

Who told you Santander were quick at the moment?

If you need to move quickly, neither of those two would be on my list of who to use, while if they are the only two you have access to right now Santander would likely to be a little LESS SLOW!!!!

JonnyCat

Oh are they slow even if you go through all the details in branch?! I guess people who work for them are bound to say they are efficient!
Found out that Leeds building & contents insurance is approx £65/m, which means their 3-year fixed is still competitive.

As an alternative, we do have an ING offer at 3.44% (also 2yr fixed). Are they more reliable/efficient?! Is anybody?!

betmunch

I would suggest ING would be quicker than Leeds and Santander.

If you want an honest answer on whos going to be quickest then you need to speak to a Broker and make sure they know that the biggest driver for you is speed rather than price.

If you go into a branch they will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to sign on the dotted line, most banks target their salesmen on applications so a lot of them will make an application that wont go anywhere!

Lbarn

We have found Santander to be fantastic, very quick AIP and we have just had phone call to say mortgage accepted... just waiting for survey which is being done today. We sent application on good friday, so we are delighted!!
Survey was free too... probably not the best interest rate in town but we only had a 10% deposit! We are just happy to get on the ladder we had started to believe was unattainable.

JonnyCat

Thanks Lbarn & Betmunch, we'll crunch some numbers and have a think...

MiniSis

3 weeks in with Santander ad have asked for more stuff (mine is quite tight on affordability though) am trying Halifax now...

jimbob43_2

Santander have the worst customer service I have ever encountered! We was told not to consider Leeds by our Broker as they add interest differently? Maybe yearly instead of monthly. Not sure on the specifics but may be worth investigating

JonnyCat

I understand that Leeds will recalculate your repayments yearly rather than monthly, so I guess that is what your advisor refers to, JimBob? However, surely for a sizeable mortgage (e.g. borrowing 400-450k for 25yrs), if you can get a lower-rate mortgage, this will probably offset any slight gain you get from having a mortgage with a higher interest rate but that recalculates repayments monthly (particularly at the start of repayments, when your repayments have such a tiny effect on the amount of interest you are paying)? I think there is a rather geeky answer to this but my brain is too tired to figure it out!

lee_w

i've got no complaints with santander, i've just recieved my mortgage papers to sign and send back, all i need to provide is 3 months wage slips. but they could ask for more as the application carries on, i do bank with them so don't know if that helps. also no outstanding credit agreements/loans/credit cards. we are going for a 85% mortgage, didn't need proof of deposit but could need to provide it further into the application

Proud2bWelsh

Sorry but in my recent experience Santander are a nightmare, all ok survey done 4 weeks later moved goalposts, I am already with them mortgage/accounts/credit cards nil balance but they are just really difficult at mo, gonna have to pay early repayment fees and find another lender not the only one from what iv'e been reading, good luck