Remortgage Solicitors in Scotland

What a remortgage involves in Scotland

A remortgage replaces one loan secured on your home with another. In Scotland the security for a home loan is called a standard security, and it only takes effect when it is registered in the Land Register of Scotland. That means every move to a new lender involves the same three pieces of legal work: checking your title, registering the new lender's standard security, and discharging the old one once it has been paid off.

People remortgage for different reasons. The most common is reaching the end of a fixed rate and finding a better deal elsewhere, but we also act for homeowners releasing money for home improvements, consolidating other borrowing, or taking out a new loan so that someone can be added to or removed from the title.

Acting for you and your new lender

In most Scottish remortgages we act for both you and the new lender, following the lender's instructions in the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook for Scotland. Our job is to protect you both:

• For you, we explain the mortgage offer and the standard security before you sign, check that the loan will clear your existing mortgage and any other secured debts, and tell you what you will receive or need to pay at completion.
• For the lender, we confirm that you own the property, that there is nothing in the title that affects its value, and that the new standard security will be the first ranking charge over the property.

We also check the searches in the Land and Personal Registers, because a lender will not proceed if an inhibition or other diligence appears against a borrower.

Occupancy rights and the family home

Scots law gives a spouse or civil partner who does not own the family home a right to live in it, under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. A lender will not lend against the home unless those rights are dealt with, either by the non-owning spouse or partner consenting to the loan or by a formal renunciation. If you are the only owner, tell us at the start who lives with you, so we can prepare the right documents and avoid a delay near completion.

Older titles in the Sasine Register

Many Scottish homes, particularly those that have not changed hands for decades, are still held on a title recorded in the old General Register of Sasines. Since 1 April 2016, a new standard security can no longer be recorded there. If your title is still a Sasine title, the whole property has to be registered in the Land Register before your new lender's security can be registered.

This is work we do regularly. We examine the old deeds, prepare the application and deal with any questions from Registers of Scotland about the boundaries. Registers of Scotland charges no fee for the voluntary registration when it is lodged at the same time as a standard security over the whole property, which is the usual position on a remortgage. We confirm this in your quote once we know which register your title is in.

Completion day

When the new lender's funds arrive, we pay off your old mortgage using the redemption statement, and then:

1. register the new standard security in the Land Register
2. arrange the discharge of your old lender's security, which most lenders now sign through the Registers of Scotland digital discharge service
3. pay any other debts you have asked us to clear from the new loan
4. send any surplus to you

We confirm to you and to your lender once registration is complete.

Free legal packages and our fee

Some lenders offer remortgages with free legal work, carried out by a firm on the lender's panel. These deals can be good value, but the firm is chosen by the lender, and the package may not cover extra work such as a Sasine title, a transfer of title or a consent from a non-owning spouse. If you are comparing offers, we are happy to tell you what our fee would be for your remortgage so you can weigh up the whole cost.

Our remortgage fee starts from £595 plus VAT. The main outlays are:

• Registers of Scotland fee for the new standard security: £80
• Discharge of your old mortgage: £60 through the digital discharge service
• Searches in the Land and Personal Registers

Those figures are the Registers of Scotland fees in force from 7 July 2026. See our fees page or use the quote calculator for your own figures.

Timing your switch

Start the process two to three months before your current deal ends. That gives your broker time to find the right product, and it gives us time to check your title, especially if it turns out to be an older Sasine title. If you move before your fixed rate ends, check whether an early repayment charge applies, because it will be deducted from the loan when we repay your old lender. Our guide on how long it takes to release mortgage funds explains the lender's side of the timetable.