Mortgage rates for people currently buying

[midlandsbuyer]

We are buying and selling, and have a mortgage offer. We had our mortgage application accepted late June, and since then our lender has had two rate drops, so our broker has applied for the new reduced rates each time and sent over the new offer. However, they have said they're not sure how many more they can do this. Is there an unwritten rule regarding how many times you can request a new rate with the lender? I can see a hard search is performed each time, so could this be the reason they would advise against it?

Is anyone else in the same boat requesting a new offer if rate reduces, or are you just staying with the original offer?

I think most people stick with their existing Lender when they move house, which means they don't need a broker and don't need to have hard searches done.

Your existing Lender should be able to offer you a fixed rate or tracker that is comparable to what other Lenders are offering and hold it open for 6 months. With the ability to switch to a better rate if one becomes available during that time.

Our lender hasn't dropped their rates since we applied / they offered (yet). If there is a significant drop I'll speak with our broker about applying for the lowered rate (assuming it's not going to upset the apple cart / is too late in the day).

That is perhaps why my Broker is not best pleased with me as the drops have only been minimal really I suppose...

We started on 5.09%, then 4.93% and we have now secured 4.85%. I just feel even a saving of £10-£20 a month over the course of 5 years adds up to quite a sum (to us) so can’t help but ask the broker to apply for the lower rate! And as both revised offers have come back within 30minutes of me requesting, it doesn’t feel too much of a risk in terms of messing with the chain (probably have another few weeks remaining of the process anyway).

My only worry being the lender will not appreciate it and could withdraw the offer if we keep asking?!

I was an underwriter once and we didn't have any rules about that ( but rates didn't change so much).

Keep doing it, it's just a product switch. They won't withdraw the offer for that reason.

Maybe your broker does not like the 'extra' work?

I did this, just the once, and there was just a soft search. Different lender to current mortgage. It’s definitely worth doing especially if you then overpay that £20/m saved

The next BofE meeting is not until 2nd November so I wouldn’t personally expect a big shift in rates between now and then.

Your broker should be best placed to advise. I wonder, is their commission also dropping with each offer?