In a bid to attract customers, these product features are now becoming the norm. Indeed over 75 per cent of products currently come with free valuations while 64 per cent offer free legal fees.
However the deals can mask an increase in other fees. Previous mform.co.uk research has showed that lenders add fees to mortgages automatically while others impose non-refundable fees. Around one in five lenders have introduced fees which are charged as a percentage of the loan advanced.
Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk marketing and business development director, said: “It is heartening to see that mortgage fees can go down as well as up - the story for the past year has been of fees rising and of FSA investigations into exit fees so it is good news to see some help for people remortgaging.
“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."
Lenders offering free legals and valuations across the whole of their range include Barnsley Building Society, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Co-Operative Bank, Coventry Building Society, First Active, Scottish Widows Bank and HSBC, although the latter limits legal fees to a maximum of £400.
