Santander is one of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders. At Mojo, we can help you make a successful application with Santander.
91%
of Mojo applicants get approved for a mortgage with Santander
£29bn
how much Santander lent in 2018
Santander is one of the UK's 4 biggest mortgage lenders. According to the latest figures from UK Finance, the bank has a market share of about 10% and lent almost £30 billion in 2018. That's a lot of cash.
As a huge mainstream lender, many people trust Santander and they provide a wide variety of deals from first-time buyers to buy-to-let landlords.
Santander also have a few perks with their mortgages. Other lenders do offer these as well sometimes, but it's nice to know that they come with most Santander deals.
Santander do offer some pretty low mortgage rates, especially if you have a higher LTV. However, as with any lender, 'best' doesn't always mean lowest.
In fact, Santander's best rates depend on what you want from your mortgage. Low rates sometimes come with high fees and limited flexibility for instance.
It's important to remember all Santander mortgage rates will depend on your personal circumstances, and these are only headline rates. Equally, these lowest rates may not represent the best deal over the term of the mortgage.
These are examples only.
They are based on an application for a £150,000 loan to purchase a £200,000 property over 25 years.
Initial rate: 1.59%
Initial period: 27 months
Initial monthly payments: £610.31
After the initial period this deal reverts to Santander's Standard Variable Rate of 3.35% with monthly payments of £732.09.
APRC: 3.1%
Fees: £1,259.00
True cost: £216,598.94 (for the 25-year term)
Initial rate: 1.89%
Initial period: 63 months
Initial monthly payments: £631.96
After the initial period this deal reverts to Santander's Standard Variable Rate of 3.35% with monthly payments of £721.23.
APRC: 2.8%
Fees: £1,224.00
True cost: £210,969.99 (for the 25-year term)
You can check whether you're eligible for these Santander's deals with Mojo.
We'll show you the best deals from over 90 lenders too.
These rate examples were updated 17 December 2020.
We'll compare Santander against the rest of the mortgage market for you in a few minutes.
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Apply with Mojo and we can take care of your Santander mortgage application, giving you the best chance to save time and money.
You've got 3 options to start your Santander mortgage application: you can apply online, over the phone (or a video call), or by visiting a branch. In each case the correct paperwork will be required, so it's a bit easier to start online and check you have everything you'll need.
You don't need to have a Santander bank account to apply for a mortgage with them. But they do have some other initial eligibility criteria. You'll need to:
A lot of people prefer to use Mojo to help them apply with Santander.
There are quite a few benefits:
After submitting your mortgage application, like all lenders Santander, will complete a property valuation and start underwriting. It normally takes up 2 weeks before you get your mortgage offer.
If you decide to apply direct with Santander, expect a 2-part process, although you can do it in branch as part of one rather long appointment.
This is an important first step in getting a mortgage. A Santander Decision in Principle let's you know that they could lend you the amount you need. It's an instant decision that's valid for 60 days and won't affect your credit rating, as it's just a soft search.
With Mojo you can compare Santander's mortgage rates and download a mortgage in Principle.
Before you start applying whether online, the phone or at a branch, you'll need to know:
Remember, an Decision in Principle from Santander isn't a guarantee of a mortgage offer, it's just the first stage.
What is a Santander Decision in Principle?
A Decision in Principle, also called a Mortgage or an Agreement in Principle, is an important first step in getting a mortgage and is a document that states how much you could potentially borrow from Santander. It is also used to show estate agents or new build sales consultants when viewing properties as it shows you to be a serious buyer.
When you've got a Santander Decision in Principle, you can book a final appointment and speak to a Santander adviser.
This is just before your application is underwritten so you'll need to submit quite a bit of paperwork and the appointment can last about 2 hours.
Hopefully, you'll be eligible and the Santander adviser will make their mortgage recommendations. Then over the course of the next 2 weeks, your property will be valued and your case will go through Santander's underwriting department.
At this point they'll also perform a hard credit check. This remains on your record.
Santander tends to offer up to 4.5 times the gross salary of the applicants.
Your actual loan ceiling may be lower if you have a lot of fixed outgoings or your LTV is high.
When you apply for a remortgage with Santander, you basically reapply for a mortgage, which means that you'll need to pass new affordability and eligibility criteria.
This time round you'll have equity instead of a deposit, and you won't need to deal with estate agents or housing chains – so it's not quite as stressful!
The easier way to remortgage with Santander is with a product transfer. You'll need to be an existing mortgage customer, but you can avoid a lot of hassle.
Normally Santander email or write to you when your existing deal is about to end and you revert to their SVR. They'll allow you to simply switch to one of a few new rate options, which will save you money compared to the SVR.
You simply choose a new rate and that's it.
It may not be the cheapest rate you can get, though. As other lenders could beat it. You can check if you can get a cheaper deal still by using Mojo's Mortgage Matcher.
You'll see your Santander offer side by side against the best deals from other lenders. If you still want to remortgage with Santander, Mojo can also sort that out for you within 24 hours.
Most probably. A lot of Santander mortgage deals allow porting. To be sure you can check the details on your mortgage illustration.
When moving house, porting may not always be the best option. Check with Mojo whether or not you can save more in the long term by remortgaging.
You tend to pay less over the course of your term with Santander early repayment charges – the closer you get to the end of your introductory offer, the smaller the ERCs.
That means the exact charges will depend on how long is left on your introductory deal and how much you overpay by.
As the property market slowed down in Spring 2020, Santander extended its early repayment charge refund period for customers unable to sell and purchase on the same day. It extended from 3 to 6 months and from 6 to 8 months for new build homes.
Santander buy-to-let mortgages have the following eligibility criteria:
Santander buy-to-let mortgages are still subject to the same cashback and free legal fee offers mentioned at the top of this buyer guide.
You can compare Santander with all other buy-to-let lenders to find your best deal with Mojo.
Get StartedIf you're a first-time buyer with at least a 15% deposit – even if it's gifted – Santander can be a good mortgage choice. Normally Santander do offer 95% mortgages, but these have been withdrawn while the bank deals with the lockdown backlog.
Santander offers a range of fee-free deals and free valuations to first time buyers, which can be useful when you just want to get on the property ladder.
The best first-time buyer deal will depend on your circumstances and our expert advisers will help you find it. We'll help you apply too. Simply start entering a few basic details and we can go from there.
Santander does accept Help to Buy mortgage applications with the government's Shared Ownership scheme.
The bank wants you to complete your Help to Buy application before applying for your mortgage.
Santander mortgage offers last between 3 and 6 months.
Mojo Mortgages is an award-winning online mortgage broker. Let's get you the best rate you can... for free, all from the comfort of your sofa.
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