What happens when your buy-to-let fixed rate ends, and when can you remortgage?

Across the UK, a buy-to-let fixed-rate ending is usually a pricing and refinancing problem, not a tenancy-law problem. The important exception is Scotland at the repossession stage, where the security-enforcement process and shortfall limitation period differ materially from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What happens when your fixed rate ends?

Most buy-to-let mortgages fall outside the FCA’s “regulated mortgage contract” regime, so the homeowner rule requiring notice of a payment change does not automatically protect a landlord; in practice, if you do nothing when a Halifax, Nationwide or other buy-to-let fixed rate ends, the loan normally moves onto the lender’s standard variable rate. MoneyHelper states: “Once the deal ends, you'll probably be moved onto your lender's standard variable rate (SVR).” For regulated mortgages, the lender must show “the new payment and the date of the change” where a payment will change, but buy-to-let is generally treated as borrowing for a business where the agreement is a buy-to-let mortgage contract. The new rate is not set by law: it is whatever your mortgage terms say, usually the lender’s SVR or follow-on rate. The landlord’s practical deadline is therefore the product end date, because waiting can mean paying a higher variable rate before a remortgage completes.

How soon before your fixed rate ends can you remortgage?

You can usually start a buy-to-let remortgage about six months before a fixed rate ends, but that is ordinary lender practice rather than the Government’s Mortgage Charter guarantee, because the Charter says: “These commitments do not apply to Buy to Let mortgages.” The same Charter says participating lenders let customers “lock in a deal up to six months ahead,” but that pledge is aimed at eligible residential mortgage customers, not landlords. The six-month answer still holds in the market: HomeOwners Alliance says, “If you're currently in a fixed-term mortgage, you can start the remortgage process up to 6 months before it ends.” A five-year fixed rate is no different: the usual window is still up to six months before the fifth-year product end date, with completion set for the end date if you want to avoid early-repayment charges. The FCA rule is looser than the common six-month figure, requiring only “reasonable notice, in advance,” not a fixed remortgage window.

Should you remortgage with the same lender, or move to a new one?

You should usually choose a same-lender product transfer for speed and a new-lender remortgage for price competition, because no UK rule makes one route legally better and the trade-off is mainly cost, paperwork and eligibility. Which? describes a product transfer as “a faster, simpler way to secure a new rate,” and that is why landlords use it when a valuation, legal work or affordability reassessment could slow a new lender’s offer. A new lender can still be cheaper: Mortgage Notes reported in April 2026 that “Product-transfer pricing is typically 0.15-0.30 percentage points higher than the best-buy equivalent remortgage.” In England and Northern Ireland, simply switching lender is not a land purchase for SDLT purposes because HMRC says: “Dealings in exempt interests are not chargeable to SDLT.” In Scotland, Revenue Scotland gives the same answer for LBTT where the transaction is a standard security. If the property is in Wales and land-transaction-tax treatment matters to the deal structure, confirm the position with the conveyancer before completion.

Does it help to remortgage once the property's value has gone up?

Yes, a higher property value can help a buy-to-let remortgage if it lowers the loan-to-value band, because lenders typically price lower-LTV borrowing more cheaply; Moneyfacts states, “The bigger your deposit, and so the smaller the proportion of the property you need to finance, the lower the interest rates you could qualify for.” The useful figure is not the rise in value by itself but the new LTV: for example, a £150,000 mortgage on a £200,000 property is 75% LTV, but the same mortgage on a £250,000 property is 60% LTV. If the lender’s valuation accepts the higher figure, that can move the landlord into a cheaper rate tier or improve the chance of meeting rental-cover tests. Remortgaging because the house value has increased is not itself a capital gains tax disposal: HMRC says transferring land as mortgage security, or re-transferring it when the security is redeemed, “should not be treated as a disposal of the asset.”

What happens when the mortgage term itself ends and the loan falls due?

When the mortgage term itself ends, any unpaid capital becomes due, and the lender can pursue repayment, but FCA rules say firms must not repossess an expired-term borrower unless other reasonable attempts to resolve the position have failed. The FCA rule is direct: “When dealing with customers whose mortgage terms have expired with a balance outstanding, firms must deal with customers fairly and not take repossession action unless all other reasonable attempts to resolve the position have failed.” This matters most for interest-only buy-to-let loans, where the fixed rate may have ended several times but the final mortgage term is the date by which the debt must be repaid. Possible outcomes include a sale, refinance, part repayment, agreed extension or enforcement. The public “12 months before repossession” wording is a voluntary Charter-style support measure, not a statute; the Government described it as “Customers won't be forced to have their homes repossessed within 12 months from their first missed payment,” and buy-to-let is separately excluded from the 2026 Charter commitments.

Is it better to sell, or let the lender repossess, at the end of the term?

It is usually better to sell the property yourself than let the lender repossess it, because a private sale gives you more control over price, timing, costs and credit-file damage, and Shelter’s practical summary is blunt: “You might get a better price for your home if you sell it yourself.” In England and Wales, a lender selling after repossession must take reasonable care to obtain the true market value, but that is not the same as waiting for your preferred buyer or timing the market. The mortgage possession pre-action protocol says “Starting a possession claim should be a last resort,” but it also says “The protocol does not apply to Buy To Let mortgages,” so landlords should not rely on the homeowner version of that process. In Scotland, do not translate this into a county-court possession claim: the creditor enforces by serving a statutory calling-up notice, and the statute says the creditor “shall serve a notice calling-up the security.” Scotland is also harsher and cleaner on shortfalls: after five years’ inaction the obligation is extinguished, whereas England and Wales give 12 years for mortgage capital.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• FCA Handbook MCOB 7.6.28R(2) — “the payment due and the frequency of payments; where it is known that the payment will change (for example at the end of a fixed rate period), the new payment and the date of the change must also be shown;” Source
• MoneyHelper, remortgaging to cut costs — “Once the deal ends, you'll probably be moved onto your lender's standard variable rate (SVR).” Source
• Regulated Activities Order 2001, article 61A(5) — “For the purposes of this article a borrower is to be regarded as entering into an agreement for the purposes of a business carried on, or intended to be carried on, by the borrower if the agreement is a buy-to-let mortgage contract and—” Source
• FCA Handbook MCOB 7.6.1R — “A firm must give the customer reasonable notice, in advance, of:” Source
• Mortgage Charter 2026 — “Customers approaching the end of a fixed rate deal will have the chance to lock in a deal up to six months ahead.” Source
• Mortgage Charter 2026 — “These commitments do not apply to Buy to Let mortgages” Source
• HomeOwners Alliance, can you remortgage early? — “If you're currently in a fixed-term mortgage, you can start the remortgage process up to 6 months before it ends.” Source
• Which?, product transfers — “A product transfer with your current lender offers a faster, simpler way to secure a new rate.” Source
• Mortgage Notes, product transfer vs remortgage — “Product-transfer pricing is typically 0.15-0.30 percentage points higher than the best-buy equivalent remortgage, because your existing lender doesn't need to compete — you're the captive customer.” Source
• HMRC SDLT Manual SDLTM00320 — “Dealings in exempt interests are not chargeable to SDLT.” Source
• Revenue Scotland LBTT3002 — “The acquisition of an exempt interest, namely a security interest such as the creditor's interest in a standard security, falls outside the charge to LBTT.” Source
• HMRC Capital Gains Manual CG12706 — “Under s26(1), the transfer of an asset as security (for example, a mortgage of land) or the re- transfer of that asset on redemption of the security, should not be treated as a disposal of the asset.” Source
• Moneyfacts, buy-to-let mortgages — “The bigger your deposit, and so the smaller the proportion of the property you need to finance, the lower the interest rates you could qualify for.” Source
• FCA Handbook MCOB 13.3 — “When dealing with customers whose mortgage terms have expired with a balance outstanding, firms must deal with customers fairly and not take repossession action unless all other reasonable attempts to resolve the position have failed.” Source
• GOV.UK, mortgage-holder support measures — “Customers won't be forced to have their homes repossessed within 12 months from their first missed payment.” Source
• Shelter, what happens when a lender sells your home — “You might get a better price for your home if you sell it yourself.” Source
• Cuckmere Brick Co Ltd v Mutual Finance Ltd — “It is well settled law that it is the duty of a mortgagee when realising the mortgaged property by sale to behave in conducting such realisation as a reasonable man would behave in the realisation of his own property so that the mortgagor may receive credit for the fair value of the property sold.” Source
• Mortgage possession pre-action protocol — “Starting a possession claim should be a last resort and must not normally be started unless all other reasonable attempts to resolve the situation have failed.” Source
• Mortgage possession pre-action protocol — “The protocol does not apply to Buy To Let mortgages.” Source
• Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970, section 19 — “he shall serve a notice calling-up the security in conformity with Form A of Schedule 6 to this Act” Source
• Limitation Act 1980, section 20 — “(a)any principal sum of money secured by a mortgage or other charge on property (whether real or personal)” Source
• Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, section 6 — “(a)without any relevant claim having been made in relation to the obligation” Source