Should you take a mortgage from Santander?

What kind of mortgage lender is Santander?

With 14 million UK customers, Santander is one of the biggest – and most familiar – mortgage lenders in the country. In 2021, it lent £177.3 billion in homeloans, up from £169.8 billion in 2020.

Santander has 450 branches across the UK, with 6.6 million customers using its digital services. The bank says it is attracting more than 1,500 new active mobile banking users every day.

What mortgage deals does Santander offer?

With a long-established presence in the mortgage market, Santander offers deals to suit a whole spectrum of borrowers, including first-time buyers, home movers, and remortgagers.

The majority of mortgages offered by Santander are fixed-rate interest deals over an initial period of two, three or five years.

It also offers tracker mortgages, where the interest rate moves in line with changes to the main UK Bank rate. These deals are most commonly for two years, after which the deal reverts to the bank’s main ‘follow-on’ interest rate.

Santander also offers low-deposit mortgages, making it a strong contender for those looking to get on the first rung of the property ladder. It offers 5% deposit mortgages available via the Government’s ‘mortgage guarantee scheme’, for example.

It also offers buy-to-let mortgages via its specialist arm, Santander for Intermediaries.

How long does a mortgage application take at Santander?

At Santander, it takes an average of 19 days to get a mortgage approved, according to recent data from online mortgage broker Trussle. This is five days slower than the average approval time of lenders as measured by the broker.

However, data can change frequently according to lender processing volumes, while the time each application takes varies significantly according to individual circumstances.

How much could I borrow from Santander?

You may be able to borrow between 4.45 times and 5.5 times your income at Santander. However, this will depend on your salary and on the amount you want to borrow as a percentage of the property value, known as the Loan to Value (LTV) ratio.

The lower the LTV, the higher the income multiple is likely to be. So, for example, it will be higher if you want to borrow 60% of the value than it would be if the figure were, say, 80%.

Other factors, such as your age, credit history, debts, regular expenses and bills will also be taken into account.

Here’s how borrowing at Santander works in more detail:

• If the combined income for all applicants is more than £100,000, and you have an LTV of up to 75%, you may be able to borrow 5.5 times your combined earnings. This drops to 4.45 times if the LTV is 75% or more

• If the combined income is between £45,000 and £99,999, and you have an LTV of up to 75%, you may be able to borrow 5 times your combined earnings. This drops to 4.45 times if the LTV is 75% or more

• If the combined income is less than £45,000, the maximum you can borrow is 4.45 times earnings.

Note that you may also be able to get an income multiple of 5.5 if you are remortgaging and don’t want to increase the amount you are borrowing.

For a Help to Buy Equity Loan, the maximum is 4.5 times income.

Your home may be repossessed if you don’t keep up with repayments on your mortgage at Santander or any other mortgage lender.

How do I get a mortgage from Santander?

If you’re thinking about applying for a Santander home loan, you can do it either directly from the bank, or via a mortgage broker. If you use a broker, you can be reassured that a deal from Santander is the best course of action.

You’ll need to get a ‘mortgage in principle’ from the broker or lender first, which outlines how much you may be able to borrow. It’s not a legal document but it can be helpful if you want to put an offer in on a property or remortgage to Santander.

After this, you can complete a full mortgage application. This entails providing details of the last few years of your address history, proof of address, and proof of income. You will also need to share with the bank details of outstanding financial commitments, such as loans or credit cards.

A broker can help get your mortgage approved more quickly by ensuring this information is presented in the best way possible.

Once you’ve got a formal mortgage offer in writing from Santander, it will be valid for between three and six months.

Will I need a good credit score for a Santander mortgage?

Yes. To be accepted for a mortgage at Santander, you will need to have a very good or excellent credit rating. Typically, the bank will not lend to individuals with a poor credit history.

What’s the customer service like at Santander?

Santander scores around 54% for ‘consumer happiness’ with independent data provider Fairer Finance, and 43% for ‘consumer trust.’

It rates quite highly with a score of 77% for the way it handles complaints; its ‘transparency rating’ is almost 57%.

Overall, it gets a ‘customer experience rating’ of 58%. To put this in context, the very highest scoring lenders with Fairer Finance get an overall score of 70% or more.

Do I need buildings insurance with a Santander mortgage?

When taking out a Santander home loan, you must take out buildings insurance, but the lender cannot insist that you take one of its own policies.

If you do opt to purchase buildings insurance from Santander, it will be administered and underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited.

The best approach is to shop around for the best deal on home cover. If you are buying a property, always get buildings cover in place from the point of exchange.

Should I get a mortgage from Santander?

Santander is an established lender with a reputation for providing competitive mortgage rates – often at rates below the market average – as well as potentially generous income multiples for those with higher earnings.

That said, the bank is unlikely to offer you a mortgage if you have a history of bad credit.

Before selecting a Santander mortgage, it’s prudent to compare deals from across the wider market. A mortgage broker such as Trussle, which compares more than 12,000 different mortgage deals from 90 lenders, will offer reassurance that you are opting for the best deal for your circumstances.