Knowingly becoming a mortgage prisoner?

SneaksyWhippet

I have had a mortgage with Halifax for several years. My fixed rate came to an end at a time when I would not have passed affordability checks as a new customer, as I had had two children during the fixed term and having dependents took a huge chunk off what they would be willing to lend me.


However I did a simple switch to one of their current fixed rate products, away from the SVR I had been moved onto, and it all went fine with no further affordability checks. I wouldn't have passed the checks as a new customer.


If you're willing to stay with Halifax, you may find it isn't an issue. In fact I'm fairly sure my switch was just a few clicks online.

sammyjammy

:(Lucky grandparents, what a retirement

Unicorn_cottage

When is the earliest opportunity you can remortgage with your provider? Yes you may not get the best rate but you can remortgage until such a point as you earn more money etc.

tain

SneaksyWhippet wrote: »

I have had a mortgage with Halifax for several years. My fixed rate came to an end at a time when I would not have passed affordability checks as a new customer, as I had had two children during the fixed term and having dependents took a huge chunk off what they would be willing to lend me.


However I did a simple switch to one of their current fixed rate products, away from the SVR I had been moved onto, and it all went fine with no further affordability checks. I wouldn't have passed the checks as a new customer.


If you're willing to stay with Halifax, you may find it isn't an issue. In fact I'm fairly sure my switch was just a few clicks online.

Thanks, that's useful. Hopefully by the time we come to October and are comparing deals, we will know exactly what situation we're in and if we want to lock ourselves in with Halifax further, or lump it on the SVR until we have more money coming in for a much better deal.

Thrugelmir

tain wrote: »

Thanks, that's useful. Hopefully by the time we come to October and are comparing deals, we will know exactly what situation we're in and if we want to lock ourselves in with Halifax further, or lump it on the SVR until we have more money coming in for a much better deal.

Switching lenders may come at a cost. That may wipe much of the benefit away at a stroke. When comparaing deals factor in all the costs involved. Not just the headline interest rates.

tonyh66

just renew with Halifax, it may not be the best rate available, but will get you past this bump and you can look at it again when that deal runs out.

whitepatch

In my opinion Halifax are competitive rate wise. But if you think your property has risen in value more than they have indexed it, it might mean you won't fall in the lower ltv bracket meaning your rate might be higher than if you switched.

As you say your circumstances may not allow you to switch, you can always pay for a new valuation if you think your property should be a higher value than their indexed valuation. Then you may fall in to a lower loan to value and get a better product.

Rates have been stable the past couple of years so you might find your monthly payments stay similar.

Spangled

tain wrote: »

Halifax. I've done searches on what they can offer (albeit far too early in the year), and they're not competitive compared to the best deals elsewhere. Initial calcs have them coming up £100-150 more expensive a month, and that's based on our current circumstances not our 'new' circumstances in October.

What is your outstanding mortgage balance and how much is your house worth (so we can work out your loan to value)? What rate are you on now?


Looking on the interweb, Halifax offer a 5-year fix of 2.77% at 75% LTV. On a £150k mortgage that's approx £690pm. (They may offer different rates for retention products for existing customers.)



The best 5-year fixes from other providers are around 2%, which means £640pm.


So a £50pm difference.


Just trying to work out how you're coming up with a £100-£150pm difference? Do you have a very high loan to value? Or a mega mortgage? Or bad credit?



(I've assumed you'll want a 5-year fix given you probably don't want to go through all this again in two years' time.)