2 year Trackers, Santander Mortgage Transfer?

tharsos

I am currently considering two mortgage products from Santander: Lifetime Tracker deal which is 2.19% above the BoE base or a 2 year Tracker which is 1.49% above the base.

What I don't like about the 2 year Trackers is that after 2 years they change to the standard rate which is a massive 4.74%. What if I will be stuck with such high rate?

I know that Santander offers an online transfer service which is supposed to allow those on the standard rate to find a better deal, but I don't know anyone who had any experience with it:
https://mortgage.santander.co.uk/#buttons

What I was wondering if there are any existing Santander mortgage customers on this forum who used this tool or tried to remortgage with Santander some other way. Has anyone been stuck with the SVR or is it easy to get a better deal with Santander once your tracker period ends? Are there fees associated with it?

I am not at the moment considering moving this mortgage after two years to another bank as they would have to do credit checks again, check affordability, etc. Since I am self-employed I am not sure what my situation will be in two years, so I don't know if I would pass the whole process. It is my understanding that if you move to a different mortgage product with the same bank then you may not need to go through the whole application process again.

Of course, if I opted for the Lifetime Tracker, I would not have to worry about it, but rising BoE interest rates are still a risk.

If anyone has any thoughts about what I discussed above, then I would be really grateful if you shared them! Thanks

SteelGoon

We moved from a 2 year fixed to the lifetime tracker a few months ago and it was all done on the website. It was just before MMR but as we were not changing anything other than the type of mortgage it was very straight forward.

I booked the rate 4 months before my fixed rate was due to end and I got 1.99 plus BOE rate, but now if I were to change I would have got 2.19.

No fees at all to change and no ERC either along with unlimited overpayments.

tharsos

That's good to hear. I wonder if it is any harder to change right now, after MMR was imposed. I would prefer not to go through some kind of credit checks etc. in order to move for example to a Lifetime Tracker. I never know what my situation will be in two years after all (if I opt for a 2 year tracker).