Mortgage legal fees falling

Mortgage lenders have begun offering valuations and legal services for free as they try and garner more business, but there remain a number of other charges still in place, according to mform.co.uk.

Some 61 per cent of remortgage deals currently offer both free legal fees and free valuations, mform.co.uk has said, with 75 per cent of products on the wider mortgage market coming with free valuations and 64 per cent with free legal fees.

However, non-refundable charges and automatic fees are still prevalent, according to the firm.

"It is heartening to see that mortgage fees can go down as well as up and that lenders are now competing on free legals and valuations," said mform marketing and business development director Francis Ghiloni.

"However while free valuations and legal fees are welcome they are only part of the picture. Customers need to always focus on the true cost of any deal and that means looking at the monthly cost plus all fees," Mr Ghiloni added.

Last week moneysupermarket.com revealed that just 40 per cent of borrowers place high importance on fee levels when choosing their mortgage.

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