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You can lock in rates 6 months ahead of remortgage date and still change (though there's paperwork) to a better deal with the same provider within that timeframe.
I would look at broker deals with providers that are competitive with their re-pricing (nationwide, Halifax, HSBC, Barclays etc) as they're all in a bit of a price war at the moment.
For example, we'd locked in 4.74% pre-christmas with HSBC for a 5yr fixed at 60% LTV (525k principal). Last week, that same mortgage dropped to 3.91%. Massive considering the movement recently.
However, I believe that pricing on mortgages lags a month on swap rates and so these prices are likely from December rates which have gone up in January so these deals might not hang around for long. We've already done the paperwork to switch.
Our mortgage is up on March 31st so we can always do the same again if needed.
I think rates will stay largely the same over the next few months now (hence drastic price reductions to win some customers before stagnation sets in) but all bets are off if the orange menace gets in later in the year and pulls US support from Ukraine and we all end up living in bunkers from Christmas.
TLDR - Get in early then switch if you need.
Soul-
Thanks, that’s very helpful and clarified my thinking. Looks like we can get under 4% on a 10-yr fixed, which is very tempting tbh.
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Great advice, thanks - got a decent rate locked in to start in August so plenty of time to see what happens. Zero paperwork or effort as it was online with current provider!
Dramatic_Hammer
Our mortgage is up this summer, what does the hive mind think will happen with rates? Is it worth getting in early or waiting?
Last time we missed out on a rate 0.5% lower by not holding out but I’m not sure we’d have saved much over the 5 years considering a month at the variable rate…