Remortgage vs product transfer
A product transfer keeps you with your current lender on a new rate: it is fast, low-cost and usually skips the full affordability check, but you only see that lender's deals. A remortgage moves you to a new lender across the whole market, which can be cheaper or let you release equity, but adds a legal and valuation process and a full affordability assessment. Neither is always best: compare the total cost of both for your own numbers.
Side by side
| Factor | Product transfer | Remortgage (new lender) |
|---|---|---|
| Choice of rates | Your current lender only | Whole market |
| Affordability check | Usually none or light | Full assessment |
| Speed | Fast, often days | Slower, legal and valuation steps |
| Cost to switch | Low or none | Possible legal, valuation and product fees |
| Release equity | Limited | Yes, subject to the new lender |
| Best when | Speed, certainty, changed circumstances | Better rates, equity release, term change |
Indicative comparison. Costs and rules vary by lender and case.
The honest bit most pages skip
Internal product transfers run at roughly £261bn a year against about £77bn of external remortgaging[UK Finance]: most people just stay put. Staying is often fine, but it is the path of least resistance, not automatically the cheapest. Because a transfer is quick and easy, it is easy to take one without ever checking whether the open market would have saved you more. The point of comparing is simply to make staying a choice, not a default.
Common questions
Which is cheaper?
It varies. A product transfer is quick and low-cost but you only see your current lender's rates, which may not be the most competitive. A remortgage opens the whole market and can be cheaper on rate, but adds legal and valuation steps and a full affordability check. The only honest answer is to compare both for your numbers.
Why do brokers sometimes push product transfers?
A transfer is fast and certain, which suits some borrowers, but it also pays the broker less in many cases and keeps you with one lender. An independent view should weigh the genuine total cost of staying against switching, not default to whichever is easiest.
When is a product transfer the better choice?
When your circumstances have changed in a way that makes a fresh affordability check risky (income dropped, became self-employed, a credit blip), or when speed and certainty matter more than squeezing the last fraction off the rate. A transfer usually skips the full re-underwrite.
When is a full remortgage worth the hassle?
When the market has clearly better rates than your lender offers, when you want to release equity, change the term, or move product type, or when the saving over the deal comfortably beats the fees and effort of switching.
Run the numbers on should you switch or stay.
Founder, MortgageExplained, MortgageExplained
Adam spent nearly a decade as a mortgage adviser at Just Mortgages, with further experience in commercial finance. He is CeMAP and CF qualified. He built MortgageExplained to do one thing well: explain mortgages in plain English, then introduce you to a regulated broker when you are ready. Every page is written and reviewed by Adam.
Last reviewed: 29 June 2026