Refixation or refinancing: when to stay with your bank and when to switch

Refixation (refixace) means staying with your current bank at a new rate for the next fixed-rate period (fixace). It costs CZK 0 and needs no valuation (odhad) or new income assessment; a single signature is often enough, or simply not replying to the letter. Refinancing (refinancování) means repaying your mortgage with a new one from another bank.

That takes 4–6 weeks, a valuation (CZK 3,000–6,000, which many banks reimburse), a new lien (zástavní právo) registered in the land registry (katastr) for CZK 2,000, and deletion of the old one.

Switching pays off more often than people expect. On a balance of CZK 3,543,000 with 20 years remaining, a 0.4 pp difference (5.40 % against 5.00 %) is roughly CZK 790 a month, or CZK 68,000 in interest over a five-year fixed period, so switching costs of around CZK 10,000 come back in about 13 months. The best result, though, usually comes from using a competing offer to get a retention rate from your own bank, and moving only if it will not match.

The difference in one table

The income assessment is the row that matters most. Refixation is the only way to carry on without a new creditworthiness test, which is a real advantage if your income has fallen since you signed.

How does mortgage refixation work?

The bank must send its offer of a new rate at least 3 months before the fixed period ends, with the rate for one or more fixed-period lengths. If you do not respond, the contract continues at the rate the bank has set, which is usually the price-list rate rather than the best one available. If you want a different length, you sign a simple amendment or confirm your choice in internet banking. How to pick the length is covered in our guide on which fixed-rate period to choose.

Refixation can be combined with an extra mortgage payment of any size, which the law makes free at the end of the fixed period, so savings can cut the balance and soften a higher rate. Some banks also let you agree the new rate in advance, which is useful if you expect rates to rise, for example before the ČNB meeting on 5 Nov 2026.

How refinancing works

1. Offers. Approach 2–3 banks or an adviser and compare offers with the same LTV, fixed period and insurance.
2. Application and documents: proof of income, a statement of the loan account and a current title sheet (list vlastnictví). The bank orders a valuation.
3. Approval, usually 2–4 weeks from complete documents.
4. A payoff statement from your current bank as at the date the fixed period ends.
5. Signing the loan and pledge agreements and filing the application to register the lien; the plomba goes on, and the registry may make the entry no sooner than 20 days after notifying the owner.
6. Drawdown: the new bank sends the money straight to the old one on the day the fixed period ends.
7. Deletion: the old bank issues a receipt of repayment (kvitance) and consent to deletion, and an application is filed with the land registry.

That is why you should start no later than 2–3 months before the fixed period ends. Miss the deadline and you roll over automatically at your current bank's new rate, and leaving later can cost up to 1 % of the amount repaid. A detailed guide is in Refinancing a mortgage step by step.

How do you get a better retention offer?

Banks know that losing a client costs them more than a rate discount, so the rate in the letter is an opening position rather than a final offer. What works:

• Have a written competing offer on the same terms (fixed period, LTV, insurance, account). A verbal “it's cheaper elsewhere” is not enough.
• Get in touch 2–3 months before the fixed period ends, not in the last week, when the bank knows you no longer have time to move.
• Ask explicitly for a retention offer, at the branch or on the helpline. Exceptions on the rate are often decided by a different department from the one that sent the letter.
• Do not sign the letter straight away. Signing the refixation binds you for the whole new fixed period, and leaving later costs a fee.

In October 2026 there is real room to negotiate. Price lists differ by more than 0.5 pp (Moneta from 4.59 % with a one-year fixation, KB from 5.19 %, Česká spořitelna from 5.39 %) and Hypoindex shows an average offer of 5.79 %. More tactics are in How to negotiate a lower mortgage rate.

When switching pays back

Smaller balances save proportionally less: on CZK 1,000,000 a 0.2 pp difference is only around CZK 110 a month, and switching pays only with a bigger gap or if the new bank covers the costs. Work out your own figures in the refinancing calculator.

When to stay even if others are cheaper

• Your income has fallen, through parental leave, a new business or a probation period. A new bank reassesses creditworthiness and, at an internal payment threshold of around 45 % of net income, may turn you down.
• High LTV. The statutory ČNB limit of 80 % (90 % under 36) does not apply to refinancing without an increase in principal (§ 45a(3) of the Act on the ČNB). The new bank still works out LTV from its own valuation for pricing and approval, and if the balance is above 80 % of that valuation it may charge more or decline. Your current bank does not recalculate LTV on refixation.
• A record in the credit registers since you signed the original contract. It does not matter for refixation, but a new bank may reject you for it.
• A small balance or a short remaining term, where the saving does not cover the costs and the effort.
• An investment flat. For new investment mortgages the ČNB has recommended LTV 70 % and DTI 7 since 1 April 2026, so refinancing a let flat may run into stricter conditions.

A timeline from six months out

Start 6 months before the fixed period ends: find out the balance and the exact end date, and work out the payment at 5.00 % and at a higher rate. With 4–3 months to go, collect 2–3 written offers from other banks and wait for your bank's letter. Once the letter arrives, 3 months ahead, take the best competing offer to your current bank and ask for a retention rate.

Decide by the time 2–3 months remain, and if you are switching, apply to the new bank straight away. In the last 1 month, sign the new agreements and file the lien application, or sign the refixation, perhaps with an extra repayment. On the day the fixed period ends, check that the old mortgage has been repaid and put the next end date in your calendar.

What the bank must do before your fixed period ends, and what your rights are, is explained in what to do when your fixation ends.