First Direct or Santander?

prettypig

I would like to remortgage to a fixed rate and am deciding between First Direct and Santander.

The FD mortgage is a 5 year fix at 1.84% with a £490 fee. The Santander mortgage is a 5 year fix at 1.89% with a £999 fee. This is for a £260,000 mortgage on a house worth circa £450,000, so just inside the 60% LTV bracket.

On the face of it, the First Direct mortgage is slightly cheaper. However, I have read various things about them being a pickier lender and therefore more likely to decline an application.

I earn circa £73k and have a £3k balance transfer on a credit card that I will have paid off before the promotional rate ends. My credit records also show a balance of around £800 and £200 on other cards which I pay off every month but use for day to day spending.

My husband earns circa £21k and has about £2k on credit card balance transfer rates.

We are both using less than 10% of our available credit. We don't have any kids.

Would anyone be able to offer any insights as to whether this would be acceptable to First Direct? Or should I go with Santander?

Thanks

mobileron

First Direct are still the best bank in UK,check where Santander are.
There easy to talk to and are based in UK.