Mortgage Rate Rises

EvilRob · 20 Feb 2026 at 11:57

unwashed potato! said:
Sure. But how is it a positive to having a broker in the example given?

Unless I'm mistaken, tna said it's a positive to having a broker because when the bank dropped rates, each time they had to go to the broker and nudge them to get the reduced rates updated to their offer,

which takes just as much effort to do directly with the bank

That's my confusion

Free brokers like L&C have an online portal for your application. It's a bit easier to send them a message there and have them take care of it with the lender, especially if the offer can't be adjusted and it ends up requiring switching to a different product. But can you take care of it yourself? Sure...

mahius · 21 Feb 2026 at 09:06

TNA said:
For our first house I did it myself. Super easy and was not as time consuming as people make it out. You need to provide all the stuff needed to a broker anyway?

Second house we went with L&C (no fee) and the main thing that made it easier was when the interest rates went down. In our case it dropped 3 times and each time I nudge my broker and within a few days we had the new lower rate. That there saved time and I would recommend them.

Can we do this now to get lower rates, as the rates are expected to drop? I've already seen cheaper rates compared to the one the mortgage advisor got me a couple weeks back, perhaps I'll mention it to him. Though as a first-time buyer he's been very helpful teaching me how all this works and already saved me a bit by advising me against taking the seller's counter-offer. So I've already seen value in that sense.

TNA · 21 Feb 2026 at 09:30

mahius said:
Can we do this now to get lower rates, as the rates are expected to drop? I've already seen cheaper rates compared to the one the mortgage advisor got me a couple weeks back, perhaps I'll mention it to him. Though as a first-time buyer he's been very helpful teaching me how all this works and already saved me a bit by advising me against taking the seller's counter-offer. So I've already seen value in that sense.

If the bank you went with dropped the rate then yes. Just tell your broker and he should get it lowered for you. Feels great when it happens

ci_newman · 2026-03-02T12:21:42+0000

Locked in a mortgage renewal rate of 3.79% with Nationwide today to start on 30th June, coming off of my 1.24% rate. Ouch! At least that is lower than my original 4% I put in my budget when the mortgage rates shot up.

I looked at new products from other providers and they were all coming in as more expensive. Here's hoping for at least one rate drop between now and then.

fez · 2026-03-02T12:32:57+0000

ci_newman said:
Locked in a mortgage renewal rate of 3.79% with Nationwide today to start on 30th June, coming off of my 1.24% rate. Ouch! At least that is lower than my original 4% I put in my budget when the mortgage rates shot up.

I looked at new products from other providers and they were all coming in as more expensive. Here's hoping for at least one rate drop between now and then.

Just think yourself lucky you renewed when you did!

Last "good" mortgage we had was 1.92% for 5 years and the last one we had for 2 years was 5.19% I think. Both of those were the best rates possible at the time as we have always had a LTV to get the best rates.

You've not only paid a much lower rate than we did at our best, you are remortgaging at the best time in 3+ years probably.

People can say its "good decision making" all they like but its luck for the most part. Luck as to when you need to take a mortgage out and how the market goes. We would almost certainly have locked in a 10 year fix after our last 5 year fix if it was up at the right time and rates were basically 1%. We didn't have such luck so when we came to renew, 5.19% along with probably another 2 more mortgages in that time with much worse rates. Will likely have cost us £50k or more all said and done.

ci_newman · 2026-03-02T12:45:57+0000

fez said:
Just think yourself lucky you renewed when you did!

Last "good" mortgage we had was 1.92% for 5 years and the last one we had for 2 years was 5.19% I think. Both of those were the best rates possible at the time as we have always had a LTV to get the best rates.

You've not only paid a much lower rate than we did at our best, you are remortgaging at the best time in 3+ years probably.

People can say its "good decision making" all they like but its luck for the most part. Luck as to when you need to take a mortgage out and how the market goes. We would almost certainly have locked in a 10 year fix after our last 5 year fix if it was up at the right time and rates were basically 1%. We didn't have such luck so when we came to renew, 5.19% along with probably another 2 more mortgages in that time with much worse rates. Will likely have cost us £50k or more all said and done.

It absolutely is luck on my part

5.19% would have been crippling and most likely resulted in being forced to sell or eat nothing but beans on toast for the next 5 years. That rate was even outside of the stress testing when I originally took out the mortgage.