Halifax SVR

Mrs.Downie

My fixed term ends shortly currently at 5.6% Halifax SVR is 3.99% at present.

I'm not that keen to be hit with fees etc to fix in again, and I'm not certain I've accrued enough equity.

Should I try and re-fix or ride it out?

R_P_W

You're going to have to provide a bit more information than that

Jimbo1976

Halifax normally has a wide range of products for its existing customers, these will have a selection of fees, some with no fees, some with medium and some with large fees.

Speak to either the Halifax or a mortgage broker. If you want to fix, you shouldn't need to pay lots of fees to stay with the Halifax.

The rates it will offer you will depend on your loan to value, so if you don't have a lot of equity then you will have to pay a nigher rate.

Alternately you could use the money you are saving now your payment has gone down to overpay and reduce your mortgage

ScotlandM

What!s the size of the mortgage?
Expect LTV?
Term might be nice too.

I'm with nationwide and have worked out that it's cheaper for me to take the worse rate with no fees than pay for the better rate. There will be a limit for each mortgage with a fee, above the limit it is good value to pay the fee, below the limit not worth it.

Next to consider is security, Halifax can change their SVR anytime they want. They'll give you notice but don't expect good things to happen - e.g. we're raising our SVR but offering all customers half prices fees. Expect a more business like manner of raise fees/rates and then uppercut them with an increased SVR.

But, if you can only get a mortgage with a rate of 5% and you're on the 4% of the SVR you are saving 1% (twenty percent of your interest fee!) If you are near an LTV boundary (<90%, 85%, 80, 75, 60..?) it could be worth a small risk to stay on SVR overpay the amount you are saving and once into the new boundary to take out a mortgage. So you'd be fixed/tracker on a better rate. And if you want a tracker will depend on your risk/security choice.

We can suggest, some better people advise but we really need more numbers to go on.

Mrs.Downie

Thanks,

We got a 90% mortgage 2 years ago totalling £80,100 plus £999 for fees. Our term is 30 years.

Payments £475.00 per month

Mrs.Downie

Just looking for advice guys

Jimbo1976

As I explained above, it is likely that halifax will allow you to fix without paying arrangement fees etc. Check with them or a broker as to what sort of products they will give you. These will depend on how much equity you have in the property. The less equity you have the higher the rate you will pay.

As to whether you should bother to fix, thats a question only you can answer. Could you afford it if your mortgage went up by 2-3%. Whilst the SVR is lower than your old fixed rate, mortgage rates are at an all time low. One day when the UK climbs its way out of the current miserable economic position we are in, interest rates will go up. In the golden decade the UK had before it all went pear shaped the base rate averaged at about 5%. So if we ever go back to that position the base rate will be increasing sharply from its current 0.5%.

If you have lots of surplus cash flow and a healthy amount of savings then feel free to stay on the SVR. If you don't know how you would pay your mortgage if it went up then fix.

ScotlandM

Morning,
A payment of 475 doesn't include any overpayment does it?
If your inital rate was 5.8% payments would be 476 and you stated a rate of 5.6.

It only makes a difference to work out how much you still owe now, its approx 78k
90% LTV works out a house value of 90k
You've not made any impact on the debt and are still in the 90% LTV band, assuming the house hasn't increased in value by a few thousand(most houses have lost value).

If you stay on the SVR of 3.99% you could be down to a payment of 385, though you should overpay that by 100/month to get to a beter LTV. 18months on the LTV should bring you down to 85% LTV if you overpay.

But sorry, I just like numbers and hope someone who knows more about the mortgages can help you. It looks like you could remortgage now at 4.3%, if you get to 85% LTV it'd only drop to 4.2%
If you can overpay to get to 80% LTV though you can fix at 3.99, that would be a good point to aim for. Any chance you can overpay 4000 in the next 12 months? After you bring LTV down to 80% you could then stop overpaying and enjoy a much cheaper fixed rate. It's what i'd be aiming for but has risks staying on the SVR for a year.

clueless1682

On the Halifax website, there's a section for existing customer and what rates are on offer. Guessing you're on 85% or over LTV, they have a fixed rate for 4yrs of 4.49%, no product fee with this.
So definitely lower than what your current deal is.
Next offer on 75-85% LTV is only a 3 yr fix at 4.39%, so not a huge difference in interest by getting the LTV reduced if you could.

Depends really on what you want to do - fix now, happily knowing the rate is fixed, lower monthly payment than before so can overpay, so 4yrs time you'll be in a much better position for a better rate.

Or stick with the SVR for a while and see what happens.

4yrs can be a long time for some people, so depends on whether you're considering moving/changing jobs/having kids etc in the next few years whether the fix is worth it now for you.

Good luck