Remortgage away from Santander’s standard variable rate

by Aaron Strutt

Sep 01 2014

Santander has a huge amount of mortgage customers sitting on its standard variable rate and many of them are pay much more money each month than necessary.

Santander’s standard variable rate is currently 4.74% - which is actually pretty reasonable compared to some of the other lenders - but when compared to the rates available to new customers across the market it is particularly excessive.

Over the last few months Santander has changed its acceptance criteria for existing customers trying to secure a better deal and more borrowers are being asked to switch from interest-only to capital repayment mortgages. They are also increasingly being told their affordability is no longer sufficient for the mortgage purposes if their financial situation has got worse since the last time it was assessed. 

Aaron Strutt, product manager at Trinity Financial, says: “The new rules often affect customers whose financial circumstances have changed, even if they have made all of their repayments on time.

“If you have been turned down by the lender, it does not mean you will be refused by other banks and building societies. It is certainly worth looking at the market again to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere.”

Over the last few weeks mortgage lenders have started to lower their rates again and there is a huge amount of competition to attract new customers.

Many of the lenders are offering a free property valuation and legals service when you switch banks, this helps to reduce the cost of switching rates.

If you would like help to remortgage away from Santander, call Trinity on 020 7016 0790.