If you’ve had a fixed-rate mortgage for a couple of years, you’ll know the feeling. The rate you locked in has felt safe and predictable, your payments haven’t budged, and life has carried on around it. Then a letter arrives reminding you that your fixed-rate deal is coming to an end, and suddenly there’s a decision to make.
Here’s the short version: when your fixed rate ends, you don’t get kicked off your mortgage or forced to remortgage overnight. If you do nothing, you’ll normally move onto your lender’s reversion rate, often its standard variable rate (SVR), and for most homeowners, that’s when monthly payments start creeping up without much warning.
This guide explains what a reversion rate is, when moving onto one is (and isn’t) actually a problem, and what your options are before that switch happens.
What Is a Reversion Rate?
Every mortgage deal, fixed, tracker or discounted, has an end date. Once it passes, you move onto whatever rate your lender applies by default. That’s usually called the reversion rate, and for most lenders it is the SVR, though the two terms aren’t always identical, so it’s worth checking your own mortgage offer for the exact wording.
Unlike a fixed rate, an SVR can change over time in line with the lender’s own terms. Bank Base Rate can influence it, but lenders don’t have to move their SVR by the same amount or at the same time as each other.
SVRs are generally not positioned in the same way as lenders’ introductory fixed or tracker deals, and they are often more expensive. That gap varies by lender and by the products you happen to be eligible for, so it’s not a fixed rule, but it’s common enough to be worth checking rather than assuming your way past it.
How Much Extra Could This Actually Cost?
The exact figure depends on your lender, your loan-to-value, your remaining balance and where rates sit at the time, so we’ve kept this illustrative instead of quoting today’s rates, which will likely have moved on by the time you’re reading this.
To illustrate the principle: even a gap of around 1.5 percentage points between your old fixed rate and your lender’s reversion rate can materially increase your monthly repayments on a mortgage of, say, £250,000 with 20 years remaining. Your actual cost will depend on the rate available to you, the remaining term, your balance and any fees involved, so treat it as a reason to check your own numbers, not a like-for-like promise.
The size of the gap matters less than the fact that it starts from your very first payment after the fix ends, not gradually, which is why it’s worth knowing where you stand before it happens.
Is Staying on the Reversion Rate Always the Wrong Move?
Not automatically. Switching usually makes sense, but there are situations where waiting, or doing nothing for now, is a reasonable choice too:
If you’re planning to sell or repay your mortgage in the near future, an SVR typically carries no early repayment charge, which some homeowners value more than a slightly lower rate elsewhere. If your outstanding balance is small, the amount you’d save by switching may not be enough to justify arrangement fees, valuation costs or the time involved. MoneyHelper makes a similar point about smaller balances. And what’s actually available to you depends on your income, credit history, and how much equity you have in the property, so the headline rates you see advertised aren’t necessarily the ones you’d be offered.
None of this means you should assume the SVR is fine and leave it there. The right answer depends on your situation, which is exactly the kind of thing worth talking through, not guessing at.
You Don’t Have to Wait for Your Fix to End
What catches people out is that you don’t need to wait until your deal actually expires to do something about it. It’s sensible to start reviewing your options around six months before your current deal ends. Depending on the lender and product, you may be able to secure your next deal well before the switch takes place, without paying anything upfront to explore it.
Starting early means you’re not rushed into whatever happens to be available in the final few weeks, since rates and lender criteria shift constantly. If rates improve before your new deal starts, it may also be possible to review the product again, though the options here depend on the lender and how far your application has progressed.
If your deal is ending in the next six months, that’s your window to start looking, not a date to wait for.
What to Do Before Your Fixed Rate Ends
- Find your end date. Check your original mortgage offer or your online account for the exact date your fixed term finishes.
- Check for early repayment charges (ERCs). Some lenders allow you to arrange a new rate ahead of time without triggering an ERC on your existing deal, others don’t. It’s worth confirming this before assuming you’re locked in either way.
- Review your wider situation, not just the rate. Has your income changed? Are you thinking about borrowing a bit more, for renovations or otherwise? This is a natural point to reassess, not just switch on autopilot.
- Weigh up total cost, not just the headline rate. A product transfer with your current lender may avoid valuation, legal or arrangement costs that an external remortgage would involve, so a lower rate elsewhere isn’t automatically the better deal once everything’s accounted for.
- Get advice before your options narrow. An adviser can compare what’s actually available to you, not just what’s advertised, and hold a suitable option for you in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my mortgage rate change automatically when my fix ends? Yes. If you haven’t arranged a new deal, your lender will move you onto your reversion rate, often its SVR, without any extra paperwork or a separate decision from you.
Can I remortgage before my fixed rate ends? Yes. You can start reviewing both remortgage and product-transfer options before your fixed rate ends, often several months in advance.
Will switching cost me anything upfront? Getting advice from AS Financial comes with no upfront fee, so you can explore your options and understand the real cost of staying, switching, or borrowing more before committing to anything.
What if I want to stay with my current lender? That’s absolutely an option, and it’s often the simpler route through a product transfer. We’ll weigh that up against the wider market with you, so you’re not just assuming one route is right by default.
Don’t Let Your Rate Change by Default
Moving onto a reversion rate isn’t a punishment. Staying on one for a while can even be the right call, as long as it’s a choice you’ve made on purpose, with your own numbers in front of you, not something that happened by default.
If your fixed deal is coming up for renewal, or you’re not quite sure when it ends, our advisers can check where you stand and talk through your options, with no upfront fee and no pressure to decide on the spot. Arrange an initial mortgage review with AS Financial.
