Standard variable rate (SVR)
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Published by Rodway Labs — not a mortgage adviser
Published · Last revised
Standard variable rate (SVR): A lender’s own variable rate that many mortgages move onto when a fixed or discounted deal ends, if you do nothing.
The SVR is set by the lender and can change under the mortgage terms. It is not the Bank of England Bank Rate, although lenders may move their SVR after Bank Rate changes. Most people reach it by default: the deal ends, nothing replaces it, and the follow-on rate named in the offer applies from the next payment.
Example: the monthly cost of rolling onto an SVR
- Mortgage
- £185,000 over 22 years, capital and interest
- Current fix at 4.19%
- about £1,074 a month
- Example SVR at 7.13%
- about £1,390 a month (about £316 more)
- Example product transfer at 6.22%
- about £1,288 a month
- SVR compared with the transfer
- about £102 a month more
7.13% is the Moneyfacts average SVR at the start of November 2026, used as an example of what a roll-on can cost. It is not your lender’s rate. For simplicity the payments use the full £185,000; by the time a fix ends the balance will be a little lower, so your own figure will differ. Use the rate on your statement or offer.
How it affects a remortgage
The SVR is the cost of doing nothing, so it is the baseline a switching decision is measured against. The month-by-month and one-year cost is worked through in the rolling onto SVR guide.
Fees and early repayment charges still come first. An SVR usually has no early repayment charge, which gives flexibility, but a new deal with a large fee or a long tie-in is not automatically better just because its rate is lower than the SVR. Compare the full cost over the same period, fees included, before the rate gap.
Many lenders let you secure a new deal ahead of the end date, so time on the SVR is often avoidable with a little planning. Check your own lender’s timing rather than assuming.
Example: four months and twelve months on the SVR
- Balance when the fix ends
- about £183,280 after four more payments at 4.19%
- Payment on the example SVR at 7.13%
- about £1,386 a month
- Payment on the 6.22% product transfer
- about £1,285 a month
- Four months on the SVR
- about £4,345 interest, against about £3,790 on the transfer (£556 more)
- Twelve months on the SVR
- about £12,949 interest, against about £11,283 on the transfer (£1,666 more)
Illustrative only, using the site repayment maths on the remaining 260 months. 7.13% is the Moneyfacts average SVR at the start of November 2026, not any lender’s rate.
Common mistakes
- Confusing the SVR with Bank Rate. Bank Rate is set by the Bank of England (4%, raised on 5 November 2026); an SVR is the lender’s own rate, set separately.
- Assuming the SVR stays put. It is variable, so the lender can change it under the mortgage terms, and payments change with it.
- Assuming every deal reverts to an SVR. The FCA notes the follow-on rate is often the SVR but not always; the offer names it.
- Counting only the payment gap. The extra interest is the real cost of time on the SVR; on the example it is about £556 over four months.
Edge cases
- Small balances. MoneyHelper notes that with only a small amount left to repay, the saving from switching may be too small to cover the fees.
- Planning to sell or repay soon. An SVR usually has no ERC, so a short spell on it can cost less than a new deal’s fees and tie-in.
- Struggling with payments. The FCA points to contacting the lender, which may offer options such as a term change; these change the total cost.
- Tracker follow-on rates. Some deals revert to a rate linked to Bank Rate rather than an SVR, so the gap behaves differently when Bank Rate moves.
Where to go next
- Rolling onto the SVR — what doing nothing costs, in more depth.
- When to remortgage — a six-month timeline so the fix does not lapse.
- True-cost calculator — your SVR against a new deal, fees included.
Sources checked 2 November 2026
- FCA: support with mortgages and interest rates — offers typically valid 3 to 6 months, reversion rates, same-lender switches, ERCs and stress testing.
- MoneyHelper: remortgaging to cut costs — remortgage and product transfer definitions, switching costs, LTV formula, valuations, porting and negative equity.
- Bank of England: Bank Rate — the current Bank Rate (4%, raised on 5 November 2026; checked 5 November 2026) and the next decision date.
Figures marked example are illustrative only, not a quote and not lender, broker or FCA-regulated advice. Definitions are plain English for this site, not the wording in your offer. The definitions and explanations are in our own words. Last checked 2 November 2026.