Switching Mortgages

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flanners2006

Guest
I have a variable rate mortgage with EBS at just over 60K, now I want to increase mortgage by 20k for home improvements. when i approached the ebs, posing as a potential new customer they gave me a more favourable rate than as an exisitng customer. When i went back to them and informed them of a better offer from competitor, they said theres no room for negotiation. Is this correct? standard practice with lenders?

Also why do lenders not allow one to consolidate loans in to one? I was quoted 5% for a topup with ebs, which I thought was exceptionally high.
Does anyone know if after having switched, and therefore consolidated home loan with home improvement loan, how do you go about claiming tax relief for the home improvements????
 
What is the value of your home? Have you shopped around with other lenders to see if remortgaging for a larger amount with a more competitive lender might be worth it? EBS are not the cheapest these days. See the . As for consolidating loans do you mean the top-up for home improvements or consolidating other loans? In general lenders do cater for mortgage loan consolidations. Borrowers consolidating existing higher cost loans onto a mortgage should be careful to preferably repay the consolidated amount over a similar period to the original unsecured loans. Otherwise they may pay more in the long run. Paying a higher rate over a shorter term can sometimes be cheaper than paying a lower rate over a longer term. Ideally pay a lower rate over a shorter term!
 
It is not unusual for lenders to offer lower rates for new customers than for their existing ones. However, with it now being so easy to switch lenders some are offering the same rates for all their customers. Have you looked at how much you would save by switching your mortgage? On 80k I can't imagine it being that much. Bear in mind also that on a loan of this size you may have to pay a legal fee for switching.

Also, re claiming tax relief - you simply complete a new TRS form. There is a section where you fill out how much of your new loan was used on your house - this is the amount that you qualify for tax relief on.
 
flanners2006 said:
Also why do lenders not allow one to consolidate loans in to one? I was quoted 5% for a topup with ebs, which I thought was exceptionally high.
Click to expand...

Just on the point regarding EBS top-up loans for Home Improvements.

The rates quoted on their web-site for "LifeStyle Loans" are [broken link removed].

They show Variable rates from 4.25% for Loans over 7 years.
 
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