Are you currently looking to remortgage a property? In light of the coronavirus pandemic, many property owners who were on the brink of refinancing understandably have a great many questions about their finance options at present.
It may be the case that you were about to remortgage as the pandemic hit, as you have a fixed-term product coming to end and wish to avoid falling onto an expensive standard variable rate (SVR). You may be looking to remortgage to free up some liquidity in an uncertain economic climate – or perhaps you are simply looking to secure more favourable terms.
Whatever your situation, you – like a great many other people – may now be concerned about whether your remortgage can still go ahead.
Is it possible to remortgage during coronavirus?
Whatever your motivation for remortgaging, you should rest assured that it is still possible to remortgage during the coronavirus crisis – although there are some things you should consider.
Your application may be affected by certain factors, such as adjusting their lender criteria or different stances on mortgage valuations during this period. Things can also take a little longer to process at the moment, with many staff working from home, off sick, or lenders being kept busy with other matters (such as processing mortgage payment holidays).
So, if you’re looking to remortgage during coronavirus, it’s wise to get started sooner rather than later. It’s also advisable to seek the help of a mortgage broker who has close relationships with lenders, to drive the case forward on your behalf.
Are the banks still lending?
Most lenders are still operating at this time. During the present crisis, many people’s thoughts have been drawn back to the financial crisis of 2008. While coronavirus has had and will continue to have a significant impact on the UK economy, mortgage lenders are not in the same position they were in during and after the crash. For the most part, banks have liquidity on their balance sheets, and – as they are proving, through their innovative efforts to continue with mortgage valuations – they still have an appetite for lending.
You may have heard that some lenders have withdrawn their mortgage products altogether. This is true, in places, but this has generally been due to administrative issues more than anything else. For a start, many lenders are currently investing a huge amount of their resources into processing requests for mortgage payment holidays; some lenders have built entirely new systems to deal with this, in an impressively short space of time. Likewise, the shift to employees working from home has created some practical challenges, so it has taken some banks a little while to get a strong steer on operations.
However, with every week that passes, lenders are adapting and strengthening their capabilities. Over the last month, we’ve seen banks withdraw, regroup, and re-enter the market. And there are still plenty of lenders fully operational, offering remote valuations to ensure applications can proceed – meaning that borrowers certainly can continue to remortgage successfully during coronavirus.
Finding the best rates for your remortgage
At this time, many are understandably keen to secure the best possible rates to ensure their monthly repayments are low. As always, this is something that the Articus Finance team will be happy to assist you with. We are also keeping up-to-date with our lenders and colleagues across the industry, ensuring we have the most relevant and useful information to share with you.
If you have any further questions, speak to an Articus broker today about refinancing your property.
