How mortgage lenders are hiking switching costs by stealth

Mortgage lenders are in the business of making money, and in the last five years they have found a new way to squeeze more out of borrowers who want to switch their mortgage deal.

Many remortgage deals used to be packaged up with 'free legals and valuations' to reduce the upfront cost to the borrower and encourage them to switch. However, new figures show that lenders have gradually been chipping away at the number of deals that offer such freebies.