A remortgage means switching your existing mortgage to a new deal, either with a new lender or your current one. The legal side is real, but it is usually lighter and cheaper than buying or selling, because the property is not changing hands. You stay the owner, so there is no buyer or seller and no chain to wait on.
Most people remortgage to escape a rising rate when a fixed deal ends, to release some equity, or simply to find a better deal elsewhere. Whatever the reason, a conveyancer handles the paperwork that moves the legal charge from your old lender to your new one.
1 What conveyancing for a remortgage actually involves
The job is to redeem your old mortgage and register the new lender's charge against your property at HM Land Registry. Your old lender has a legal interest in your home until it is paid off, and your new lender needs that interest in its name once it lends to you. The conveyancer makes that swap happen cleanly and on the right day.
Because nobody is buying or selling, a lot of the heavier work does not apply. There is no negotiation over price and no transfer deed (the TR1) passing ownership to someone else. A remortgage rarely involves a formal exchange and completion in the way a purchase does. It is closer to a tidy administrative job with a few important checks. If you want the full picture of what a conveyancer does, our guide on what is conveyancing covers the basics.
The checks your conveyancer still makes
A remortgage is lighter, but your conveyancer still needs to confirm a few things to satisfy your new lender:
- Proof of your identity and a check against money-laundering rules
- Confirmation that you genuinely own the property and have the right to mortgage it
- A title check to spot anything unusual, such as restrictions or rights of way
- Sometimes property searches, or a search indemnity insurance policy in their place
- The exact figure needed to repay your old mortgage in full (the redemption statement)
2 How the remortgage process works, step by step
The order of events is fairly predictable, which is part of why remortgages tend to move faster than purchases. Here is the usual run of things once your new mortgage is agreed.
You appoint a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. With many "free legals" deals the lender appoints one for you, but you can often choose your own instead.
They verify who you are and pull your title from HM Land Registry to confirm ownership and check for anything that could affect the new loan.
Depending on the lender, they either order property searches or arrange a low-cost indemnity insurance policy to cover the risk instead.
They ask your current lender for the precise amount owed up to the completion date, including any early repayment charge.
They send you a short report and the mortgage deed to sign for the new loan. Read it, then return it.
Funds from the new lender arrive, the old mortgage is repaid in full, and any extra equity you are releasing is sent to you.
They register the new lender's charge at HM Land Registry and remove the old one. That completes the legal switch.
3 How much remortgage conveyancing costs
Remortgage legal work is usually cheaper than a purchase or sale, often by a fair margin, because the conveyancer does less. Many lenders also cover the cost as an incentive, so you may pay little or nothing for the legal fee itself. Where you do pay, the fee is typically modest, plus a handful of disbursements such as the title check, any searches and the Land Registry fee for updating the charge.
Two common lender offers are worth understanding clearly, because they affect what you pay and who you can use. The right choice depends on the numbers in front of you rather than a rule of thumb.
- Free legals: the lender pays for a basic conveyancing service, often through a firm on its panel. Convenient and cheap, though the panel firm may be busier and you have less choice.
- Cash incentive: the lender gives you a cash lump sum instead, and you arrange your own conveyancer. You pay the legal fee yourself, but you pick the firm and the cash can leave you better off overall.
Add up the cash incentive against the likely legal fee before deciding. If the cash comfortably beats the fee, choosing your own conveyancer can be both cheaper and quicker.
For a fuller breakdown of fees and the extra costs that sit alongside them, see our guides on how much conveyancing costs and conveyancing disbursements. To see real numbers for your remortgage, you can compare fixed-fee quotes on MoveGuide from SRA-regulated solicitors and licensed conveyancers, side by side, free and with no obligation, in about 60 seconds.
4 How long it takes and why it is usually faster
A remortgage often completes more quickly than a sale or purchase because there is no chain. You are not waiting on anyone else's solicitor, survey or mortgage offer. Many remortgages run from a few weeks to a couple of months, though the exact timing depends on your lender, how fast searches come back and how quickly you return signed documents. By way of comparison, a typical freehold sale or purchase tends to take around 8 to 12 weeks.
The biggest practical point is timing your completion. Aim to complete on or just after your current deal ends, so you avoid both the early repayment charge and a stint on your lender's higher standard variable rate. Start the legal work in good time, usually a month or so before your deal expires, to leave room for any delays.
Redeeming a fixed deal before it ends can trigger an early repayment charge worth thousands. Check the date your current deal expires and plan completion around it.
Leasehold flats can take longer, because the new lender may want information from the freeholder or managing agent, which is not always quick to arrive. If that applies to you, our guide on leasehold and freehold explains why.
5 Remortgage, transfer of equity or product transfer?
It helps to know which job you actually need, because they are not the same and the costs differ. A straight remortgage keeps the same owners and changes the lender or the deal. If you are also adding or removing someone from the ownership, that is a transfer of equity, which is extra legal work and usually means extra cost.
There is also a third option that involves no conveyancing at all. A product transfer is when you switch to a new deal with your current lender without moving the loan. Because the lender and the legal charge stay the same, you generally do not need a conveyancer. If your existing lender's new deal is competitive, that can be the simplest route. If the best deal is elsewhere, a full remortgage with a new lender is where conveyancing comes in.