yorkshire building society mortgage fees are expensive and all a con

mrsmartmoney

Just looking to renew my mortgage that is currently with HSBC.

The best rate out there for a 2yr Fix is with YBS so applied - however is everyone aware of all the fees and kickbacks YBS get.

The cheapest legal fees are charged for us at £580. When the letter comes through it says there is a payment for £255 included in that figure as a referral fee to united Legal Services (part of YBS). So 50% of my legal costs goes in a referral fee hey ? Oh, you can use your own legal guys as long as they are on the ybs panel, so how long will that take to sort then.

the basic valuation comes next - the same guys from Countrywide will be doing the survey as First Direct. First Direct charge £750. You have guessed it YBS charge £1150, nice little earner for everyone. How can someone coming into your house for 20 mins earn this sort of money for a simple valuation that is just guess work at the end of the day. Asked them if i can sort my calculation with Countrywide direct, YBS said no - why ? £200 is a better figure dont you think.

The actual YBS mortgage fees - they also charge a myriad of fees from mortgage processing at £130, to £90 for when you leave the bank, oh yes and the £1350 product fee (the one fee I understand).

So there we have it, over £3100 in fees and costs to simply remortgage for 2 years, it sounded good 1.14% but the devil is in the detail and it takes hours to get all the details.

I would strongly avoid this bank (who also own Chelsea Building society) as their fees are not transparent with the backhanders, it is not value for money.

Thrugelmir

Fees are relative to the sum being borrowed. Lenders won't make money at 1.14%.

ACG

mrsmartmoney wrote: »

Just looking to renew my mortgage that is currently with HSBC.

The best rate out there for a 2yr Fix is with YBS so applied - however is everyone aware of all the fees and kickbacks YBS get.

The cheapest legal fees are charged for us at £580. When the letter comes through it says there is a payment for £255 included in that figure as a referral fee to united Legal Services (part of YBS). So 50% of my legal costs goes in a referral fee hey ? Oh, you can use your own legal guys as long as they are on the ybs panel, so how long will that take to sort then. - It depends. If they are already on the panel then it will be the same as using theirs. If not, then its normally done in about 10 days. If you apply to get them added when you make the application there should be no delay if everyone pulls their finger out.

the basic valuation comes next - the same guys from Countrywide will be doing the survey as First Direct. First Direct charge £750. You have guessed it YBS charge £1150, nice little earner for everyone. How can someone coming into your house for 20 mins earn this sort of money for a simple valuation that is just guess work at the end of the day. Asked them if i can sort my calculation with Countrywide direct, YBS said no - why ? £200 is a better figure dont you think. First Direct are a bigger lender so probably get it cheaper. But its not just the valuation, they are liable if its wrong. So if they do not pick up on subsidence for instance, that could be a decent chunk of money they need to shell out to fix.

The actual YBS mortgage fees - they also charge a myriad of fees from mortgage processing at £130, to £90 for when you leave the bank, oh yes and the £1350 product fee (the one fee I understand).
A lot of building societies charge a booking/admin fee. Thats not uncommon. Every lender I can think of charges a deeds release fee, typically £70-150. Most lenders offer 2 deals, lower rate and higher fee, and higher rate lower/no fee. You have to weigh up the overall cost and not get taken in by the rates.


So there we have it, over £3100 in fees and costs to simply remortgage for 2 years, it sounded good 1.14% but the devil is in the detail and it takes hours to get all the details.
It is, your right.

I would strongly avoid this bank (who also own Chelsea Building society) as their fees are not transparent with the backhanders, it is not value for money.

Im completely confused. The fees are disclosed on the KFI (Section 8) I suspect they are also on their website.

They are a business, it is their job to make money. Its your job as the customer to check its the best deal for you or ask a broker to do it on your behalf.

In all honesty, im not a fan of YBS and theyre not a lender I would use personally but it sounds like you have been blinded by the rate and did not do your research properly.

If you have a large mortgage then it could well be cheaper. Fees have a bigger impact on smaller mortgages

dunstonh

yorkshire building society mortgage fees are expensive and all a con

No they are not. You just dont fall within their target market.

So there we have it, over £3100 in fees and costs to simply remortgage for 2 years, it sounded good 1.14% but the devil is in the detail and it takes hours to get all the details.

its all about finding the balance between the fee and the amount of interest you will pay. Larger mortgages will be better on this deal than smaller ones. So, smaller borrowers need to focus on different deals. That does not make this deal a con and should not be avoided in your research. That would be foolish.

as their fees are not transparent with the backhanders

The fees are transparent and no backhanders. They are factual and quoted. So, how can you say they are not transparent? They are larger certainly but that is something different to what you are saying.

amnblog

Not sure what is going on here.

Not my usual position to defend a Lender that ignores brokers but YBS do not charge a £1,150 valuation fee, so wires crossed somewhere. To be in that range of valuation costs, the property would need to be over £1.5m value.

A combination of +£1M value and modest mortgage size would be very unusual.

The product is designed for large mortgage sizes. For example a £500,000 mortgage makes the product fee of £1,345 equivalent to 0.13% on the rate per annum - still very competitive.

Our poster does not like this product - guess what? It is not compulsory to take it (yet!).

David_White

When comparing different products I tend to focus on what the total cost over a fixed period is (inclusive of fees) rather than just the rate as it'll give a true picture of what the cost of the deal is.

I'm not commenting on the particular product you've applied for however if you're not using a broker and are shopping around instead I wouldn't be instantly seduced by the lowest interest rate you find as it may not be the most cost effective deal.

amnblog

But it is recommended by Money Supermarket David!

David_White

Very true lol

mrsmartmoney

Thank you all for your comments

My issues is with all the different charges being made, they are not easy to spot when you remortgage on an infrequent basis.

Why should ybs be taking a £250 commission for recommending a solicitor that makes less that the commission. Also, how can any home valuation cost so much money £1150, something / someone is making easy money and it's probably a combination of that and people using insurance costs to indemnify their potential lack of skill in their profession.

The point of this forum was not to take all the costs and work out what the end mortgage interest rate would be, it is to highlight the large charges that banks and building societies bring about with remortgaging. Maybe I don't make that completely clear !!

duchy

I'm sorry- I don't understand.

No-one is forcing you to use them.
If you don't like their charges use someone else.

presumably you haven't already committed to this without confirming all the charges first and making sure it is the most cost effective product for you in your particular circumstance .

Just because it doesn't suit your need doesn't mean it won't be the best product for someone else with different circumstances. One size doesn't fit all.

There is no con

Nick_C

ACG wrote: »

They are a business, it is their job to make money

They are a mutual. One of the few remaining Building Societies, so their job is to look after the interests of their members. That doesn't mean though that they will always offer the best deal for every set of circumstances.

My savings are with YBS. My mortgage is with Santander.