Remortgage Conveyancing in Maidenhead

Everything below is arranged around that date. We have not put week counts against the stages, because the three that matter are not ours to control and a number we invented would not help you.

The order it happens in, and what each stage waits on

The stages in bold are the ones that determine your timetable. Stages 6 and 7 are quick once everything before them is in place.

A remortgage is shorter than a purchase because there is no chain, no negotiation and no seller. It is not instant, because four of those eight stages wait on somebody else.

What has to happen before your existing lender is redeemed

Your existing lender will not release its charge over the property until it has been paid in full, and it will not tell us what "in full" means until we ask.

We request a redemption statement, which gives the figure due on a specified date plus a daily rate. That statement has a shelf life. If completion slips past the date it was calculated to, we need an updated figure. If your current mortgage carries an early repayment charge, it is included in this figure rather than billed separately.

Two things commonly change the figure between statement and completion: a payment leaving your account in the interim, and interest accruing on the daily rate.

The one question worth asking us in week one

Some lenders accept a search indemnity policy in place of a fresh local authority search on a remortgage. Others require the search.

Which applies to you depends on your lender, and it is the difference between stage 3 taking days and taking weeks. Ask us at instruction and we will tell you which you are dealing with.

Leasehold remortgages and the freeholder

A leasehold remortgage adds a step a freehold one does not have. Your new lender needs to know the lease is acceptable security, which means knowing the unexpired term, the ground rent and whether it escalates, the service charge position, and whether major works are planned.

Some of that is in the lease. The rest comes from the managing agent, who charges for providing it and answers in their own time.

Where the unexpired term is short, some lenders will decline regardless of everything else. That is better established in week one than week eight, so ask us to check your lease term at instruction. It takes minutes.

If your mortgage offer expires before completion

The sequence is this. The offer lapses. Your lender may reissue on the same terms, may require a fresh valuation, may re-run affordability checks, or may no longer offer the same product if it has been withdrawn. Any of those can change your rate.

Meanwhile, if your existing fixed rate has already ended, you revert to your lender's standard variable rate until the new mortgage completes. That is the actual cost of delay and it is worth calculating before you decide how hard to push.

What you can do this week

• Send us your identity documents and proof of address before we ask
• If your property is leasehold, request the management pack from your managing agent now
• Find your current mortgage account number and your lender's details
• Ask us to check your unexpired lease term
• Ask whether your new lender accepts a search indemnity
• If you are raising additional funds, have the source evidence ready

Our fee basis is on the conveyancing fees page. If you are buying rather than refinancing, our property solicitors in Maidenhead page covers that instead.

Speak to us today

Fixed Fee conveyancing, a named solicitor, 20+ Years Experience. SRA regulated and CQS Accredited.