Remortgaging is a part of life, and most people will remortgage when their fixed rate ends. But can you remortgage before your fixed-rate ends? Remortgaging could be the best thing for you, but how much do you know about remortgaging? Why would you remortgage? And how often can you remortgage?

Keep reading to learn more about mortgages, including when the best time is for you to remortgage your home.

Why Would I Remortgage?

Before we talk about how often you can remortgage, let’s discuss why you’d want to remortgage in the first place. After all, you probably won’t want to remortgage if you’re dealing with the repayments well and you’re happy with the rates and lender.

There are several reasons why you’d want to remortgage. One of the main reasons that you may want to remortgage is because your current mortgage deal is about to end or has already ended.

When your current deal ends, you’ll be put on your lender SVR (standard variable rate), which can be notably more expensive. Choosing another lender with better rates is almost always a better option when your deal is close to ending.

You may also consider remortgaging if you’re not happy with your current rates, or you’re struggling to make the monthly payments. However, you may have to pay an early repayment fee and a small exit fee when you repay and switch your mortgage.

Another key reason that people remortgage is to release some of the equity in their home to make adjustments, such as an extension or a renovation. You can also remortgage your home if you’re in a position to repay your mortgage earlier than expected.

If you’ve had your property recently valued, then you may want to consider remortgaging your home if the property value has increased significantly.

When Is The Best Time To Remortgage?

Naturally, the best time for you to remortgage is the end of your current mortgage deal. As long as you’ve completed the initial mortgage term, then you shouldn’t incur any exit fees or early repayment fees.

However, on some occasions, it may be worth a small charge in order to switch mortgage lenders. If you notice a significantly lower rate available by another lender and it works out cheaper overall including an exit fee, then it may be worth remortgaging.

Another good time to remortgage is after a valuation – if you’ve recently had your home valued and you’ve noticed that your home has increased in value, you may want to raise capital.

In this instance, you may benefit from remortgaging early and using the extra capital to make some improvements to your home or invest in a buy-to-let property.

How Often Can I Remortgage?

In short, you can remortgage your home whenever you like – there are no limits as to how many times you remortgage. However, this doesn’t mean that you should remortgage whenever you get the chance to.

Remortgaging may be worth it in some instances, but if you do it regularly during your fixed-rate period with your current lender, then you may be worse off as you’ll be paying early repayment fees (ERCs).

However, more and more people are remortgaging. In fact, back in 2019, around 20% more people chose to remortgage their homes than the previous year.

You can remortgage whenever you see a better deal – but again, it’s important to consider the early repayment fees or exit fees, as sometimes it may not be worth leaving your current lender.

When remortgaging, always be sure to make accurate calculations so you have a clear idea of the rates you’ll be paying, and whether you’ll be better or worse off switching lenders.

Most mortgages last around 25 years, generally on two, five, and ten year fixed rates. If your deal is for 25 years and you’re on a typical five-year fixed-rate mortgage, then you may remortgage five times during that period.

However, you’re not limited to that – but you’ll most likely be charged to remortgage. So the answer to this question is that you can remortgage whenever you like, but make sure that you have all the information so you don’t get caught out with unexpected charges.