SVR remortgaging advice from moneysupermarket.com

Date:Tuesday 9th February 2010
Author: Susanna Kavka

Mortgage holders who currently have a standard variable rate (SVR) product may be considering changing to another deal.

As lenders start to increase the rates on their SVR mortgages, according to moneysupermarket.com, now could be the time to think about switching to a new loan.

Recent studies by the price comparison site have found that 85 per cent of SVR mortgages are now more costly than the cheapest two-year fixed-rate product, without taking into account legal and exit fees.

Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, mortgages channel manager at moneysupermarket.com, said that even when arrangement fees are taken into account and provided the consumer has 25 per cent equity in their home, SVR rates do not compete with fixed products.

Falling mortgage rates have also been good news for prospective buyers, with moneysupermarket.com finding that in January the average rate of 4.97 per cent on an 80 per cent loan-to-value was 0.77 per cent lower than in October.