Have you been tempted to remortgage yet?

For many, remortgaging had become as much a part of their regular financial review as filling in the insurance forms.
But the credit crunch put paid to all that with banks trying to navigate away from the heavily indebted consumer in a bid to rebuild their own credit worthiness.
While some state owned banks are under pressure to lend more, with interest rates falling many people now seem happy to stick with their SVR after they come of their discount period.
Remortgaging was never free, was often time consuming, and lenders are still reluctant to lend at high loan to value rates.
Coupled with falling house prices, this has closed the door on anyone hoping to secure more credit against the value of their home.
HSBC though has launched a new offer at a record low rate in a bid to lure out any potential remortgagers (see our earlier story here). As long as they have a 40% deposit, that is.
With a deal so low that it should more than make up for costs associated with remortgaging – although there is the minor issue of a £1200 fee – the bank is clearly hoping to breathe new life into the remortgage market.
The lenders say the main reasons lending levels are so low is that there is little demand. But I think the true picture may be a little bit more complicated than that.
I did recently think about remortgaging. I have a little pot of money in a bank account with an introductory bonus period that is about to expire.
With saving rates now so low I thought I'd do the sensible thing and pay it into my mortgage. I thought it might be a good idea to reduce the term of my mortgage by a few years while I'm at it.
In theory at least I meet the lenders’ requirements even in this difficult market - with enough equity to secure a 70% loan to value deal.
To my surprise the application was refused on the basis of a rather measly valuation; something that apparently you cannot appeal.
Reading the personal finance pages it seems I'm not alone and others are also being refused mortgages.
Are you one of them? Or are you one of the people happy to just keep paying the current rate?
Are you looking around again as rates are starting to tick lower?
Or were you one of those people that rushed to lock yourself into a fixed rate earlier this year?
Did the application go as smoothly as previous applications?


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