To remortgage or not?

[Kernowgal]

The fixed term on my mortgage recently came to an end. I was planning to put the house on the market this autumn and move to another town but am wavering because the market here is very slow and there's nothing I'd want to buy at the moment. I also thought about going into rented accommodation/lodging with friends temporarily to see if things pick up. This all assumes that the house sells, of course!

I'm now paying the SVR, which hasn't had any impact on my outgoings as I was already deliberately overpaying, but I don't want to pay more than I have to. However, all the fixed rates have early repayment charges and these are pretty hefty in the first year and I'm worried that I'd get hit for these if I couldn't find anywhere to buy quickly.

WWYD? Any advice would be welcome. The SVR has bumped up my payments by £60 a month, so not a huge amount, but that's £60 less a month going towards paying off the mortgage.

I've looked at products without ERCs but they work out just as expensive. Of course it might all be academic and just as I accept an offer, something perfect comes on the market. But I'm not hopeful.

Some mortgages can be taken with you if you move to a new property, I think the term is portable. It might be worth looking into.

Nationwide have a tracker with a lower rate than their fixed rates, no fees, and no early repayment charges. Might be worth considering for the short term?

Thanks for your replies. I'd definitely go for a portable remortgage because I'm planning to move, but that relies on me finding somewhere to move to! This is the potential fly in the ointment.

Eminybob - that sounds very interesting indeed, I will go and have a look at that as I was thinking of choosing Nationwide anyway.

Some portable products have a period of time after you sell to then buy something else. So you pay the ERC upon sale but then it's refunded should you drawdown the funds again for your purchase within this time period, might be worth asking about that too. I'm sure Santander do it
Also be aware If you are looking to downsize your mortgage with your new purchase then a portion of the ERC will likely be payable

Oh that's good to know! I've got an appointment with a broker next week to discuss options, so I'll look into that.

No downsizing, upsizing most likely - moving to a more expensive place so will likely need to take out an additional product. It may still be cheaper to stay on the SVR.