Do I Need a Solicitor to Remortgage?

Why speak to A Little Mortgage Advice about remortgaging?

Because the lender we recommend decides the legal route, and we make that choice with you before anything is signed. Angela also does the chasing herself: in her words, she deals with "the lenders and solicitors personally". She has held CeMAP since 2014, we hold 5.0 from 185 Google reviews, and in 2026 we won the Financial Services Client Service Excellence Award, Essex, in the Southern Enterprise Awards run by SME News.

Reviews are individual experiences. Every case is different and approval is never guaranteed.

When don't you need a solicitor to remortgage?

When you stay with your existing lender on a new mortgage deal, a product transfer. Nothing changes on the title, so there's no legal work, no solicitor's fee and no HM Land Registry fee.

A simple test: if the HM Land Registry entry for your home won't change, you probably won't need a solicitor.

We review a client's deal six months before it ends, and staying or moving is the first decision. If staying wins, there's no solicitor to instruct. Whether staying is the better deal is a separate question, which our remortgage advice page covers.

When do you need one?

Whenever the lender's charge on your home changes, or who owns the home changes. Three questions settle it for most people:

1. Are you moving to a new lender? If yes, you need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer.
2. Are you adding or removing anyone from the ownership of the home? If yes, you need one.
3. Are you borrowing more? From your current lender, usually not. From a new lender, yes, because question 1 already applies.

If the answer to all three is no, you're looking at a product transfer, and no legal work is needed.

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What does a remortgage solicitor actually do?

They make sure the new lender's money pays off the old loan and that the new lender ends up with a valid charge on your home. In order:

1. Checks your identity and takes instructions from you and the new lender.
2. Gets a redemption statement: what you owe on the day, plus any early repayment charge.
3. Checks the title at HM Land Registry.
4. Carries out searches, or arranges search indemnity insurance if the lender accepts it.
5. Sends you the mortgage deed to sign, in front of a witness if you sign on paper.
6. On completion day, receives the new lender's money and pays off your current mortgage.
7. Registers the new charge and has the old one removed.

Our part is keeping that moving. Paul Bush's case was a purchase, but the chasing on our side is the same:

How much does a solicitor cost to remortgage?

Often nothing, because a lot of remortgage deals come with a free legal package paid for by the new lender. Where you do pay, these are the figures, for England and Wales:

GOV.UK's own worked example is a £200,000 remortgage, and it ends: "There is no fee to register the discharge of the existing loan."

Read a free legals offer closely. MoneyHelper's wording is that some lenders pay some or all of your fees, so ask what the package leaves out.

Free legals, cashback or your own solicitor: which works out cheaper?

On the legal side alone, free legals usually win. An illustration with round numbers, not a real client: a £200,000 remortgage, using HomeOwners Alliance's average fee and the GOV.UK Land Registry fee.

The legal line is the smallest number in the comparison, though. Over a five-year fix, a small difference in the rate can outweigh all of it, so we compare deals on their total cost with the legal route included. And once a rate is secured, we keep watching, as Angela told one client:

Deal ending in the next six months? We'll compare staying, switching and the legal costs of each. Call 01268 387898

Can you choose your own solicitor?

Yes, as long as the new lender accepts them. On free legals you normally use the lender's panel firm. If you want your own solicitor, check they're on the new lender's panel first, because if they aren't, the lender may instruct a separate firm to act for it as well and you can end up paying for both.

To find a solicitor, the Law Society's Find a Solicitor search lists regulated firms, and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers lists licensed conveyancers. On a purchase, Dani Martin used solicitors Angela appointed, which meant Emma on our team could keep in touch with them directly.

How long does the legal side of a remortgage take?

Judge Law, the conveyancing firm ranking first for this search, puts it at 4 to 8 weeks from the mortgage offer, with straightforward cases sometimes quicker. That's why we'd rather start well before your deal ends, with enough time for the legal work to run its course and for us to switch to a better rate if one comes along before completion. Fl Hyde did:

What slows the solicitor stage down?

Usually something only the paperwork can fix. The common holdups:

• Leasehold information from the freeholder or managing agent arriving late.
• A problem on the title, such as a missing document or a restriction.
• A slow redemption statement from your current lender.
• ID checks or documents you haven't sent back yet.
• A mortgage deed signed without a proper witness.

On a purchase, Frankie West wrote that we went as far as "getting the Solicitors’s to hurry things along". On a remortgage, the chasing is the same. A deed signed without a proper witness has to be signed again, because HM Land Registry checks the witness's signature, name and address.

Can you remortgage without a solicitor?

Only by staying with your current mortgage lender, on a product transfer or a further advance. If you move to a different lender, it won't release the money until a solicitor or conveyancer has done the legal work.

Final thoughts from us

Short version, for anyone with a deal ending soon:

• Staying with your lender on a product transfer needs no solicitor.
• Moving to a new lender needs one, and so does any change to who owns the home.
• Free legals are common, but ask what the package leaves out.
• Compare the legal costs alongside the rate over the whole fixed term, never on their own.
• Start three to six months before your deal ends, so the legal work isn't racing the clock.
• If you're leasehold, find out how many years are left on the lease before you apply.

Sources

• HM Land Registry fees, Scale 2 and the free discharge: GOV.UK, HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Signing and witnessing deeds: GOV.UK, HM Land Registry practice guide 8, execution of deeds.
• Lender fees and cashback: MoneyHelper, Remortgaging to get the best deal.
• Conveyancing fees and further advances: HomeOwners Alliance, Remortgaging: do I need a conveyancing solicitor?
• Lease length and timings: Judge Law, Do I need a solicitor to remortgage?
• Finding a solicitor: The Law Society, Find a Solicitor.
• Licensed conveyancers: Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
• Reviews: our Google profile, verbatim, re-scraped 31 October 2026. They are individual experiences: every case is different and approval is never guaranteed.

Is your deal coming to an end?

Ask us what staying, switching and the legal side would each cost you. Lines are open 9am to 9pm, seven days a week, and the first conversation is free.