Remortgage conveyancing fees
Remortgaging is the cheapest conveyancing there is — and the one where the cheapest option most often costs you time instead of money.
Guides · 5 min read · Last updated 22 September 2026
The short answer
A standard remortgage in England and Wales runs £300–£700 all in for 2026, including the disbursements. There’s no Stamp Duty, no searches in most cases, and the Land Registry fee is a small fixed charge rather than a price-banded one.
Many lenders include “free legals” — their own panel firm, at no cost to you. That is genuinely free. It is also the reason most remortgage delays happen.
Why it’s so much cheaper than buying
You already own the property, so most of the expensive work has been done:
- No searches, in the ordinary case — your lender usually accepts search indemnity insurance instead, at £15–£40.
- No Stamp Duty, unless ownership is changing (see transfer of equity below).
- No transfer of title, so registering the new charge is a smaller banded fee rather than the purchase scale in the cost guide.
- No chain, no exchange, no completion day to coordinate with anyone else.
What remains: obtaining a redemption figure from your existing lender, checking the title still supports the new lender’s requirements, satisfying the new lender’s conditions, drawing down the funds, paying off the old mortgage and registering the new charge.
Free legals versus your own conveyancer
This is the only real decision in a remortgage, and it is a trade-off rather than a trap.
Free legals mean the lender instructs a firm from its panel and pays the bill. You pay nothing. In return you’re in a high-volume queue, the firm is chosen for its rate rather than its responsiveness, and — the part worth understanding — that firm is acting primarily for the lender.
Instructing your own conveyancer costs £300–£700 and buys two things: someone whose client is you, and a file that isn’t behind several hundred others. If your current deal expires on a fixed date and you’re facing a jump to the standard variable rate, the difference between a four-week and a ten-week completion can exceed the fee several times over.
Rule of thumb: if your remortgage is straightforward and your deal has months to run, free legals are fine. If there’s a deadline, anything unusual about the title, or a name changing on the deeds, paying for your own conveyancer is usually the cheaper mistake to avoid.
Some lenders offer cashback instead of free legals. If so, compare the cashback against a quote for your own firm — the cashback is often larger than the fee.
When a remortgage costs more
Three situations move it out of the standard band:
- Transfer of equity — £200–£400 on top. Adding or removing someone from the title, commonly on marriage, separation or buying out a partner. This changes ownership, so Stamp Duty may become payable on the share transferred, and the Land Registry fee returns to the price-banded scale. Whether it applies to yours is a question for the conveyancer.
- Leasehold — £150–£250 on top. Lighter than the £150–£400 a purchase attracts, because the lease is being checked against the new lender’s requirements rather than read cold for a buyer. Notice of the new charge usually has to be served on the freeholder, who charges for it.
- Unregistered title, or a title with defects. Older properties occasionally turn out never to have been registered, or carry a covenant the new lender objects to. Indemnity insurance usually solves it; the legal work to arrange it doesn’t.
Remortgaging with a deadline? Quotes through the panel are itemised and priced on your actual property and circumstances. Get my tailored quotes — free.
Quick answers
How long does a remortgage take?
Typically four to eight weeks from application to completion, of which the legal work is a fortnight or so. The usual delay is the redemption statement from your existing lender, or a leasehold freeholder responding slowly. Start about three months before your current deal ends.
Do I need a solicitor to remortgage with the same lender?
Usually not. A product transfer — moving to a new deal with your existing lender, with no change to the amount or the owners — normally needs no legal work at all. It is only a new lender, or a change to who owns the property, that requires conveyancing.
Can I add my partner to the deeds at the same time?
Yes, and doing both at once is cheaper than doing them separately. It is a transfer of equity, so expect the supplement above, and take advice on whether Stamp Duty is triggered — where there is a mortgage, the share of debt being taken on can count as consideration.
Is my existing conveyancer the obvious choice?
Not necessarily. They’ll have your file, which saves a little time, but remortgage work is largely standardised and the firm that handled your purchase three years ago may no longer be the quickest. It costs nothing to compare.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Conveyancing Index is not a firm of solicitors or licensed conveyancers — a regulated specialist will advise on your own circumstances.