When to remortgage, and whether to break your fix early
The short answer: start looking about six months before your deal ends, secure a rate once you find one you would accept, apply early enough for the paperwork, and aim for your new deal to start on or just after the date your early repayment charge ends. Starting earlier should be a deliberate exception your own numbers support. This guide covers the harder parts: the timeline, whether leaving a fixed deal early can pay, and what to do if your fixed rate has already ended. For product transfers, costs and the rules, see our complete guide to remortgaging.
Which situation are you in?
Your fixed rate ends within six months
You are in the window. Start comparing now and consider securing a rate early.
Your fixed rate ends in more than six months
Leaving now usually means an early repayment charge. Run the break-early test first.
Your fixed rate has already ended
You are on a follow-on rate, often your lender's standard variable rate. Compare your options rather than staying by default.
Something else has changed
Your home's value, your plans or the rates on offer. Some changes are worth a check mid-deal.
Your remortgage timeline: work back from your end date
Everything hangs off one date, so find it first. Your deal end date is on your annual statement, in your lender's app and in your mortgage offer. Check when your early repayment charge ends too. It is usually the same day, but it is the date that costs money if you get it wrong, so confirm it.
Then count backwards. The steps differ depending on whether you stay with your lender (a product transfer) or move to a new one.
| When | Staying with your lender | Moving to a new lender |
|---|---|---|
| About 6 months before | Ask how early you can choose a new deal. Lenders that have signed the Mortgage Charter can offer up to six months ahead on a fixed rate, but some offer less. | Start comparing deals and, if you use one, speak to a broker. Gather ID, payslips or accounts, and bank statements. |
| 3 to 6 months before | Once your lender offers a deal you would accept, consider securing it. Check whether any fee is payable now and whether it is refundable. | Apply once you find a deal you would take. Offers usually last three to six months, so check yours covers your end date. |
| At least 8 weeks before | Check your deal's fee and cancellation terms, and your lender's last date for changes. Keep comparing. | Aim to have applied by now. Four to eight weeks is common, but delays happen. |
| 2 weeks before | If your lender has signed the Charter, your new rate must be finalised by now. Its own cut-off may be earlier. | Check the legal work is on track and that completion falls on or after your early repayment charge ends. |
| Your end date | Your new deal starts. | Completion: your new lender pays off the old one. |
Sources: Mortgage Charter, HM Treasury (Charter rows); FCA (offer validity); Barclays and L&C (typical switching time) · Verified October 2026
Secure early, then keep looking
If your lender has signed the Mortgage Charter and you are coming off a fixed rate, you can lock in a new deal up to six months ahead and still ask for a better like-for-like deal if one appears before your new deal starts. Rates must be finalised two weeks before the start date, so ask well before then and check your lender's own cut-off. If rates rise, you would normally keep the deal you secured, subject to your lender's terms. Our remortgaging guide covers the Charter in full.
The Charter covers residential mortgages with lenders that have signed it, and only deals with the lender you already have. If you are moving lender and rates fall after your offer, ask whether you can switch product before completion; it may mean new fees and another credit search.
What fills the four to eight weeks
If you are moving to a new lender, this is roughly what happens after you apply:
- Application. The lender checks your income, spending, credit file and documents. Missing paperwork is a common cause of delay.
- Valuation and underwriting. The lender values your home, often without a visit, and decides whether to lend.
- Mortgage offer. A formal offer arrives, usually valid for three to six months.
- Legal work. A solicitor or conveyancer arranges completion. Some deals include basic legal work or cashback, so check what is covered and that your solicitor can act for your new lender.
- Completion. Your new lender pays off the old one.
A product transfer usually skips the valuation and legal stages, so it is often much quicker, though cut-offs vary by lender.
Should you break your fix early?
You can leave a fixed deal early, but it usually costs an early repayment charge, typically 1% to 5% of your outstanding balance and often falling each year of the deal, though some deals charge a flat fee instead. Your annual statement or original offer shows yours.
Leaving early only gains you anything during the months your current fix still had to run, because once it ends you could switch without a charge anyway. So, as a first check, compare two numbers:
- What leaving now costs: the early repayment charge, plus any fees for the new deal.
- What leaving now saves: the interest you would save between now and the date your fix was due to end.
If the saving is clearly bigger, leaving early could leave you better off. If not, waiting is usually the better route. Measure interest saved, not the drop in your monthly payment: in the second example below, the payment figure points the wrong way.
The new deal's fee is a grey area, because you might have paid one when your fix ended anyway. Counting all of it, as we do here, is the cautious version. If your answer changes depending on whether you count it, it is too close to call on the numbers alone.
The examples below assume a £200,000 repayment mortgage with 20 years left on both paths, a new five-year fix, fees paid upfront, no change in your home's value or eligibility, and the same new rate still on offer when your fix ends. They are illustrations, not a forecast or recommendation.
Each result compares that route with staying on your current fix until it ends.
Current two-year fix 4.9%, new fix 4.1%
Early repayment charge 2%: £4,000
New deal fee: £999
Interest saved in 12 months: £1,589
Current five-year fix 6.4%, new fix 4.4%
Early repayment charge 3%: £6,000
New deal fee: £999
Interest saved in 30 months: £9,854
Charge steps down to 2%: £3,950
£2,050 less on the charge
Six more months at 6.4%
Look at the second example through payments alone and you get the wrong answer. The payment falls by £225 a month, or £6,746 over 30 months: less than the £6,999 it costs to leave, so a payments-only sum says don't switch. But on the lower rate more of each payment clears the balance, so by the time the old fix would have ended you owe £3,108 less. Interest saved captures that. The payment difference does not.
If rates fall further while you wait, waiting looks better than shown. If they rise, leaving early looks better.
Should you wait for your charge to drop?
Not automatically. Waiting saves money on the charge but keeps you on the higher rate for longer. In the third example the two cancel out almost exactly.
A rough rule: divide 12 by the gap between your current rate and the new one, in percentage points. If your charge drops by one percentage point within that many months, waiting is likely to pay. If the step-down is further away, it probably will not. With a two-point gap the answer is six months, which is why the third example came out level. The rule ignores fees, your falling balance and future rates, so treat it as a first screen. And if your lender reduces the charge daily rather than yearly, there is no step-down date to wait for.
Before you run your own numbers: our calculator compares switching now with doing nothing at all, so its "stay" side moves onto your lender's standard variable rate when your fix ends. If you would switch at the end of your fix anyway, the test above is the fairer one.
Your fixed rate has already ended
If your fixed rate has ended and you have not arranged anything, check which rate you are on now. It is often your lender's standard variable rate, but some mortgages move to a different follow-on rate, and your mortgage terms are the authority.
Follow-on rates often carry no early repayment charge, but confirm that and check for an exit fee. Meanwhile, every month can cost you: on a £200,000 balance, a rate two percentage points above a deal you could get means roughly £333 a month in extra interest at the start. So compare your options now. A product transfer with your own lender is usually the quicker route; compare its rates with the wider market.
If a new lender is cheaper, you would normally stay on the follow-on rate while that switch goes through. Avoid a fixed product transfer as a stopgap without checking: it usually comes with its own early repayment charge, which could block the move you wanted. Our remortgaging guide explains when a short spell on the variable rate can be a deliberate choice.
If the new payment is more than you can afford, or you have missed a payment, contact your lender now rather than waiting for a remortgage. Asking for help does not by itself affect your credit file, and MoneyHelper's free guidance on mortgage payments explains your options.
Other moments worth a check
Your deal ending is not the only time to look. MoneyHelper suggests a review when interest rates change, when your deal ends, and once a year anyway.
Rates have moved a lot since you fixed
If new deals sit well below your rate, run the break-early test above. A small gap rarely covers the charge. A wide gap with plenty of fix left sometimes does.
Your home is worth more, or you owe less
You may now sit in a lower loan-to-value band with cheaper rates. If you are just above one and your deal ends soon, overpaying within your yearly allowance, often 10% of the balance, may tip you under it without a charge. Our overpayment guide shows the maths. If a valuation looks low, you can ask the lender to reconsider, with evidence of similar sales nearby.
You are planning to move
A long fix with a large exit charge can reduce your flexibility. Most mortgages can be moved to a new home, but that still needs the lender's approval, so if a move is likely, a deal with low or no early repayment charges may suit you better.
Once a year, regardless
When your annual statement arrives, check four things: your rate, your balance, your end date and your charge ladder. It is how you never miss the window.
Frequently asked questions
Broadly three. You can take a new deal with your current lender, known as a product transfer, which is usually quick. If you are up to date with payments and are not borrowing more or changing your repayment type or term, it will often need no new affordability check. You can move to a new lender, which takes longer and involves a full application but may offer a better rate. Or you can do nothing and move onto your lender's follow-on rate, often its standard variable rate, which is usually more expensive. Most people compare the first two and treat the third as a short, deliberate stop at most.
Yes, but leaving a fixed deal early usually means paying an early repayment charge. The exception is timing: with your own lender you can often secure your next deal up to six months before the current one ends, and no charge applies provided the new deal starts on or after the date your early repayment charge ends. Lenders that have signed the Mortgage Charter offer this, though some allow less than six months, so ask yours.
Only if the interest you would save between now and the date your fix was due to end clearly beats the charge plus any new fees. Savings after that date do not count, because you could have switched then without a charge. In practice a small rate gap rarely clears the bar, while a wide gap with plenty of time left on your fix sometimes does. Compare interest saved, not the fall in your monthly payment.
Not automatically. Waiting saves money on the charge but keeps you on the higher rate for longer. As a rough rule, divide 12 by the gap between your current rate and the new one, in percentage points. If your charge drops by one point within that many months, waiting is likely to pay. If the step-down is further away, it probably will not. Some lenders reduce the charge daily, in which case there is no step-down date to wait for.
With your own lender, a product transfer can often be arranged quickly, but if your lender has signed the Mortgage Charter your new rate must be finalised two weeks before it starts, and its own cut-off may be earlier. With a new lender, aim to have applied at least eight weeks before your deal ends. Four to eight weeks is common, but missing documents, valuations and legal work can all add time. Leave it later and you risk a spell on your lender's follow-on rate.
You move onto your lender's follow-on rate, often its standard variable rate, for the gap, and pay it until your new lender pays off the old mortgage. Follow-on rates often carry no early repayment charge, but check your terms. A short gap may have a limited cost, but work it out rather than assume. If the follow-on payment is more than you can afford, contact your lender straight away.
With your own lender, often yes. If it has signed the Mortgage Charter and you are coming off a fixed rate, you can lock in a deal up to six months ahead and ask for a better like-for-like deal if one appears before your new deal starts. The Charter also says rates must be finalised two weeks before the start date, so ask early and check your lender's cut-off and whether any fee is refundable. With a new lender there is no equivalent commitment. Some will move you to a cheaper product before completion, but a fresh application can mean new fees and another credit search.
If you can secure an acceptable deal with your existing lender and it has signed the Mortgage Charter, you may not need to wait, because you can ask for a better like-for-like deal if rates fall before your new deal starts. With a new lender there is no equivalent commitment, so ask what happens if rates fall after your offer. Either way, a single rate decision is rarely a good reason on its own to delay, and rate forecasts are often wrong.
The bottom line
Most of the time, when to remortgage is a calendar problem, not a judgement call. Find your deal end date and the date your early repayment charge ends, start looking about six months before, apply early enough for the paperwork, and aim for your new deal to start on or just after the charge ends. Leaving a fixed deal early is the exception: it can pay when the interest saved before your fix would have ended clearly beats the charge and fees. Run that test with your own numbers, and if it is close, speak to a whole-of-market broker.
📖 Also worth reading: Should You Overpay Your Mortgage? weighs up overpaying within your allowance, which may be another option if leaving your fix early does not pay. Mortgage Fees Explained breaks down the fees that make up half of the break-early sum. And What Is LTV? explains loan-to-value bands, since crossing into a lower one before your deal ends may unlock cheaper rates.