Most clients tend to re-mortgage when their fixed term mortgage comes to an end. They tend to re-mortgage before the variable rate comes into force under their original mortgage.
When you re-mortgage property, it is likely that your initial point of contact will be a mortgage broker.
It is best to approach a whole of market mortgage broker who is not tied to any particular lender, so they can get you the best mortgage rates.
Once you have found a lender, and you are happy with the rates they are providing, they will ask you to sign a copy of their mortgage offer, and ask you to nominate the solicitor who will be acting on yours and the lenders behalf. That solicitor must be able to act on behalf of the lender as well. So in essence they must be on the Lender’s panel of solicitors.
Once you have selected your solicitor, the lender will then write to them, with their solicitors instructions. Your solicitor will then send through to you all relevant documentation for you to complete and return.
Once your solicitor is in receipt of the signed documentation, they will then download the official copies of the register of your legal title from the Land Registry and review the legal documentation and will also check through your property information forms to check that no further covenants have been breached.
Provided that this is the case, then they will check the council of mortgage lenders handbook to see if the lender whom you are re-mortgaging to accepts a no search insurance policy. If they do, then your solicitor will put the policy in place. If they don’t then they will commission the required searches.
At this stage, your existing lender will be contacted for the redemption statement, i.e. the amount you are required to pay the existing lender for them to discharge their mortgage.
Funds from the new lender will then be requested and put in place pre-completion searches to protect their charge.
Once your solicitor receives the funds from the new lender, they will send those to the old lender and redeem the charge.
They will then proceed to register the charge at the Land Registry, and send your new lender a copy of the title information document showing the new charge registered.
This article is part of our “Expert Advice” series and features advice from Aashim Dhand, Managing Director at PLS Solicitors. For more help get in contact with PLS here.
