Revised Santander mortgage rates

Andrew1981

Thought I'd flag up the new Santander rates, and see if anyone had any input to my thought process.

I'm currently on BOE+0.4% lifetime tracker, paying 5.65% (£2169/month) with Santander

I have about 55% LTV and can therefore get the following products:

2yr fixed at 4.35%. £1000 fee. Good rate, and in 2 years could probably get another favourable rate at apx 3.5%

5yrs fixed at 3.89%, £1000 fee.  Seems a very good rate, and even if rates drop down to 3% then this rate isnt much above what i'd be paying. Famous last words, but I can't see rates dropping to 1-2% any time soon, so am inclined to take this offer.

Grateful for any input!

On a side note, the Santander app is ridiculously easy to use. Logged into banking app, selected mortgage, looked at offers available, selected one, and had an offer sent to my email  - all in the space of 2 minutes. Gone are the days of forms getting sent back and forth and spending hours on the phone!

RelievedSheff

I would be snapping that 5 year fix up straight away.

If we can get anything like that rate when we come to remortgage then we will be grabbing it with both hands. Fortunately we have another couple of years to go.

london21

I am opting for 2 years fix no product fee at 4.72%. the 5 years fix with 995 product fee is also tempting at 3.97% but rates have already started dropping. My current mortgage ends 01/02 would have preferred towards end of the year.

howden9

I'm also thinking of going for this 5 year 3.89% fixed - we are with Santander so an easy product switch. 

With bumps in UK inflation and who knows what else in the wider world, I can't see the BoE base rate coming down too quickly - even if it goes below this level in a couple of years, its 2 years of paying 3.89% (and only 1 product fee in 5 years). I guess it all depends on your circumstances.

The only other one that is tempting me is the 3 year discounted variable from Newbury BS (4.99% and £850 fee)

Agree with the ease of generating the offer as a customer of Santander, and I now have 14 days to accept or let the offer lapse. I did see that if I accept (and add the product fee to the mortgage) that I can cancel without any penalty up to 14 days before the switch happens - ours comes up at the start of April

morgmonster

We locked this in on Monday, almost as soon as the option appeared on online banking, our mortgage (already with Santander, 1.99%) is up for renewal on August 2nd. It was ridiculously easy I agree! Considering the budgets we had drawn up over the past year or so with rates of 5.99% as likely, I am so relieved that it's gone down recently.
Not sure if you've noticed but on their website as a new customer they now quote 3.99% for the same product. I have read that because the latest inflation figures were a smidge higher than expected, quite a few rates have been put up by 0.1-0.2%. So yep definitely a good idea to lock in your offer with an email while you mull it over. You must be in a similar position to us and that extra 0.1% a month is a fair few coffees / avocado on toast / gymnastics fees for one of the kids for a month!

NeverendingDMP

Just joining on to say I've chosen the same as you both just the one with no fee. I was offered 3.89 fix with 995 fee or 4.14. I chose the latter as it worked out similar and was easier I felt to rethink between now and my august remortgage date without the fee involvement! I can't see my offers online though, could you see the new rates to choose from in your I line banking. I had to ring as it says it cannot display mine. I wasn't sure if it's cos we have a mortgage in two parts or if I have a sneaky mark against me as our credit file is dodgy 😂 I remember doing everything online before

howden9

Yes, looking at the news this morning I think this rate is looking increasingly good. The money market markets have changed their thinking from December 2023 (predicting there would be 6 quarter point cuts this year) to today thinking there might only be 3 (so down to around 4.5% by the end of 2024)

@morgmonster Yes, similar rate to you currently - coming off our 5 year fixed 1.89% sadly ! If rates do come down and Santander drop their deals again you are in a good position to cancel without penalty up to 14 days before your new product (I assume you have not paid the product fee upfront)

@NeverendingDMP We also have our in 2 parts (used to be 3) and can see current rates through the banking app - clicking on 'manage my mortgage', and then selecting 'explore our deals' - it then shows the two parts that are eligible to transfer 

NeverendingDMP

howden9 said:

Yes, looking at the news this morning I think this rate is looking increasingly good. The money market markets have changed their thinking from December 2023 (predicting there would be 6 quarter point cuts this year) to today thinking there might only be 3 (so down to around 4.5% by the end of 2024)

@morgmonster Yes, similar rate to you currently - coming off our 5 year fixed 1.89% sadly ! If rates do come down and Santander drop their deals again you are in a good position to cancel without penalty up to 14 days before your new product (I assume you have not paid the product fee upfront)

@NeverendingDMP We also have our in 2 parts (used to be 3) and can see current rates through the banking app - clicking on 'manage my mortgage', and then selecting 'explore our deals' - it then shows the two parts that are eligible to transfer 

Ah mine doesn't show that way via the app or online. I must be flagged as a dodgy customer to be treated with caution. 😂 Fair dues I suppose. I was 2.19 before so must have done our last five year at a similar time to you both. 

Chocolatefund

I've just accepted the 5y @ 3.89% £999 fee one.  My current mortgage is due up in three weeks. Have been waiting very 'umming' and 'ahhring' about weather to fix for 2 or 5 years. After running the numbers I settled for the 5 years.

My outstanding mortgage is £152000 with 23 years left.  The difference in payments if rates went down to 3.5% would only make a difference of about £35 per month. It would have to be below 3.0% to make a £100 difference per month.  Decided it wasn't worth it to refix again in two years.  And who knows what the world will throw at us in the next 5 years.

I think if the mortgage was a lot bigger. Then the difference of short term pain for long term gain might have been worth it.

Yorkie1

Bear in mind also that if you always go for the fee-based 2 year product, you're paying a fee in years 1, 3, 5, 7 & 9, whereas you're paying it only in years 1 & 6 if you always go for the fee-based 5 year product.

howden9

Just seen that this 5 year £999 product switch is now at 4.03% to existing Santander customers, and 4.33% to new remortgage customers.