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What are Standard Variable Rate Mortgages (SVR Mortgages)?

Picking which mortgage to go for isn’t easy. But after all, what part of the house buying process is? You’ll be faced with a thousand different options to chose from. One of these will undoubtedly be a standard variable rate SVR mortgage. But what is it? Read on and find out!

What is an SVR mortgage?

An SVR Mortgage (Standard Variable Rate) is a common type of mortgage which is offered by pretty much every lender. But what is it you ask? Every bank or building society has a Standard Variable Rate. It's the rate that mortgages revert to when they reach the end of any offer period. In short, it’s a mortgage with a variable interest rate. This means that your payments will go up and down depending on the interest rate at the time. Although they tend to follow the Bank of England base rate it's at each lenders discretion where the rate sits & for how long.

One great thing about SVRs is that you won’t normally have to pay an early repayment charge if you want to pay off your mortgage slightly quicker or remortgage to a new deal. Early repayment charge? What’s that we hear you say? It’s basically a penalty you may have to pay to your lender if you have paid off a section of your mortgage before you are supposed to or look to opt out of your current mortgage deal before the end of the offer period. But as we’ve said, with SVR this is something you shouldn’t have to worry about! But always remember, if you want to double check if this charge applies to the lender offering you your SVR mortgage don’t be afraid to contact one of our experts.

What are the advantages of SVR mortgage?

As you can imagine, the main bonus of stand variable rate mortgages is that when interest is low, your payments will also go down. You can also probably guess, that if the rates go up then so will your payments. This adds extra importance for you to check any market trends or enlist the help of a mortgage expert to help you pick the best mortgage for you.

Now, this is where we step in! At Mortgages Online we’ll be able to compare different types of mortgage deals and any market trends to see whether getting an SVR will be the right option for you.

Make sure you check the fees involved! While this goes for whatever mortgage you look into, the great thing about SVR mortgages is that their arrangement fees tend to be lower than tracker mortgages or fixed rate mortgages. If you’re really lucky you might even have no arrangement fee at all! So, make sure you shop around and do your research, it could be an easy way to save money!

Warnings:

While there are some great advantages to standard variable rate mortgages, it’s common knowledge that these aren’t exactly the cheapest mortgage rates in the world.  So, we recommend that you have a buffer zone after your previous mortgage term has come to an end so that your transition to an SVR is slightly more comfortable. This could take the form of saving some money by making small cuts to your expenditure. This is a great way to help you transition to a mortgage rate that could be slightly more costly.

LauraWaller

Laura Waller

Laura Waller has been working in the mortgages industry since 2013, joining an independent brokerage in Essex. Laura has CeMAP 2 & 3 – Certificates in Mortgages Advice and Practice. Since then Laura oversees marketing for Mortgages Online, using her experience and expertise to write articles and blogs about mortgages and related topics.

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