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the mortgage mum logo
  • mortgages
    • first time buyer
    • residential & remortgages
    • buy to let
    • second mortgage
    • bad credit mortgages
    • self-employed mortgages
  • insurance
    • life insurance
    • critical illness insurance
    • income protection insurance
    • wills & trusts
    • home insurance
    • business protection
    • private health insurance
  • specialist finance
    • development finance
    • commercial finance
    • portfolio finance
    • bridging loans
  • about
    • about us
    • our team
    • recruitment
    • library (FAQs)
    • blog
  • contact

Why do you need a solicitor for a remortgage?

I remember the first time I did my first remortgage and I was really confused. I didn't really know how it worked. How do you get from one lender to another? Why do you need a solicitor? And should we be paying for them?

You need a solicitor because they need to make the transfer from one lender to another. So let's just say you're with NatWest and you're remortgaging to Santander, for example, your solicitor will take care of that transition to make sure that the deeds and the mortgage are with the new lender. They'll get you to sign what's called a mortgage deed and they'll also get you to sign a mortgage questionnaire and it's really important if you've got an early repayment penalty that you note that in your questionnaire, so that you make sure you're solicitor does not complete before your early repayment charge finishes.

I've never had a remortgage customer pay for their legal work. So more often than not, the lenders give you free legals but if not, they give you cash back and you can use that cash back towards a solicitor. We have a panel of solicitors that we use in that scenario to make sure it does come under whatever the cashback amount is and we'll let you know whether it's best to go with the lender or whether to use our panel. Some lenders tend to give £500 cash back and then we find a solicitor for under that amount for you. Otherwise we tend to use the lender's free legals.

You also need a survey done with a remortgage, although there's more and more automated desktop valuations happening, which basically means they survey the property from afar. They could do a 'drive-by' or they provided automated valuations based on estimates online. That's the basics of the legals behind a remortgage. That is a separate entity to us but we can give you guidance if you get stuck with your mortgage questionnaire once the solicitor sends it to you.

Many solicitors nowadays are very good. They often have apps, they make it as easy as they can for you. They take care of the transaction for you and they'll get what's called a redemption statement before you complete on your new mortgage and that shares what the balance is that they need to pay off.

If you've got an enquiry for The Mortgage Mum or have any questions on this, then please fill in an enquiry form on our website.

Thank you.

Sarah Tucker

Founder, The Mortgage Mum



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539-541 London Road, Westcliff-on-Sea
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Email: info@themortgagemum.co.uk

Tel: 01702 337 003

We always aim to provide a high quality service to our customers. However, if you encounter any problems and we are unable to resolve them you can take your complaint to an independent Ombudsman. Our advice is covered under the Financial Ombudsman Service (https://www.financialombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm).

Some of the products listed are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we may refer you to a 3rd party for these services.

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The Mortgage Mum Limited is an Appointed Representative of Mortgage Intelligence Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under number 305330 in respect of mortgage, insurance and consumer credit mediation activities only. Registered address: 539-541 London Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 9LJ. Registered Company Number: 11723322. Registered in England & Wales.

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