When your mortgage deal is ending, you'll typically hear two terms used almost interchangeably by lenders and the media: "product transfer" and "remortgage." They are not the same thing, and picking the right one can affect both the rate you get and how much hassle is involved.
Product transfer: staying with your existing lender
A product transfer means moving to a new deal offered by your current lender, without repaying and re-taking the mortgage. There's typically no new affordability assessment, no new credit search, no valuation, and minimal paperwork — often completed online or over the phone within minutes.
Remortgaging: moving to a new lender
Remortgaging means applying for a mortgage with a different lender, who repays your existing mortgage on completion and takes over as your new lender. This involves a full mortgage application: income verification, a full credit check, typically a property valuation, and usually legal work via a solicitor or conveyancer (though many remortgage deals include free legal services as an incentive).
Side-by-side comparison
| Product Transfer | Remortgage | |
|---|---|---|
| Lender | Stays the same | Changes to a new lender |
| New affordability check | Usually not required | Required |
| Credit search | Often none or soft only | Full hard credit search |
| Property valuation | Not usually needed | Usually required |
| Legal work | None needed | Usually needed (often free with deal) |
| Speed | Fast — days | Slower — typically 4-8 weeks |
| Access to whole market | No — only your lender's own deals | Yes — any lender |
When a product transfer makes more sense
- Your circumstances have changed in a way that might make a new lender's affordability check harder to pass (for example, reduced income, new debt, or a change in employment).
- You value speed and simplicity over squeezing out the very lowest possible rate.
- Your existing lender's retention deal is genuinely competitive with the rest of the market.
- You have a complex credit history that might make a fresh, full underwriting process riskier.
When remortgaging to a new lender makes more sense
- Your existing lender's rates are notably worse than what's available elsewhere — common if your lender doesn't compete aggressively for existing customers.
- You want to release equity (borrow more against your property, for example for home improvements) beyond what a product transfer typically allows.
- You want to change the structure of your mortgage significantly — for example switching from repayment to offset, or changing the term substantially.
- Your circumstances have improved (higher income, cleared debt, better credit score), making you a stronger applicant elsewhere.
A hybrid approach: compare both before deciding
The most financially sound approach is simply to compare your lender's best product transfer rate against the best whole-of-market remortgage rate before choosing. A mortgage broker can usually do this comparison for you at no direct cost (brokers are typically paid via lender commission or a fee agreed upfront), giving you a genuinely informed choice rather than defaulting to whichever option feels easiest.
Worth reading next: our guide on How to Switch Mortgage Lenders for a Lower Rate, and What Happens When Your Fixed Mortgage Deal Ends?.
To run your own numbers, try our Remortgage Cost & Savings Calculator.
The bottom line
Product transfers offer speed and simplicity by staying with your current lender; remortgaging opens up the whole market but takes longer and involves more underwriting. Neither is automatically "better" — the right choice depends on your circumstances, how competitive your current lender's rates are, and whether you need additional borrowing or a structural change to your mortgage.