Read the renewal offer properly
A renewal letter typically arrives a few months before your maturity date. Look past the headline rate: check the term length, whether it is fixed or variable, the prepayment privileges, how the penalty would be calculated, and whether the offer is open or closed.
Some renewal offers are competitive. Some are simply the lender's posted-adjacent rate on the assumption you will sign without asking. You will not know which one you have until you compare it to something.
Your options at maturity
Accept the offer
Simplest, no new application, no legal work. Reasonable if the terms hold up against the market.
Negotiate with your lender
A competing offer in hand is the only real leverage in this conversation.
Switch lenders
Moving the same balance to another lender at maturity. Many lenders cover or discount the switch costs.
Refinance instead
If you also want to borrow more or consolidate debt, that is a refinance, not a straight switch.
Change the structure
Renewal is a natural point to shorten amortization, change term length, or move between fixed and variable.
Timing
Start about 120 days out. Most lenders will hold a rate for roughly that long, which lets you lock something in and still take the better option if rates move. A switch also needs processing time - the new lender orders documents and payout figures, and rushing it in the final two weeks is how people end up signing the renewal by default.
If you do nothing at maturity, many lenders automatically renew you, often into a shorter term or a higher rate than you would have negotiated.
What a switch involves
A switch at maturity is a fresh approval: income, debts, credit and the stress test are reviewed again, and the property may need an appraisal. You cannot increase the balance in a straight switch - if you need more money, it becomes a refinance.
No one can promise a lower rate at renewal. What is reasonable to expect is a clear side-by-side of what your lender offered versus what else is available, with the costs of moving included.
Next step
If your maturity date is within the next six months, send in the online application with your balance and renewal date and we will compare your offer against the market before the deadline forces your hand.