Is your fixed-interest period ending in the next few years and do you expect rising mortgage rates? With a forward loan (Forward-Darlehen) you can secure the terms for your later follow-up financing (Anschlussfinanzierung) today – at many banks up to 60 months in advance. This planning security has its price and its pitfalls, however: you are entering into a binding interest-rate bet, you must accept the loan, and you pay a forward premium (Forward-Aufschlag). As of mid-2026, this guide explains objectively how a forward loan works, when it is worthwhile and what alternatives exist – as general information, not individual financial advice.
What is a forward loan?
A forward loan is a special form of follow-up financing (Anschlussfinanzierung). The English word "forward" means "ahead" – and that is exactly the point: today you already sign the contract for a loan that you will not need until the future, namely when the fixed-interest period of your current mortgage expires.
The decisive point: the borrowing rate is already set in a binding way now, but the money is not paid out until the agreed date – the forward loan then redeems the remaining debt of your old loan. In the meantime, the so-called forward period, you continue to pay only your current instalment on the existing loan. You do not yet make any interest or repayment payments on the new loan, and with a genuine forward loan no commitment interest (Bereitstellungszinsen) is charged either.
Important to know: a forward loan is available exclusively for the follow-up financing of an existing property loan – not for a first purchase. It is therefore aimed at owners in Düsseldorf and throughout North Rhine-Westphalia whose fixed-interest period ends in the foreseeable future and who want early clarity about their future monthly instalment.
Forward period and forward premium: how the costs arise
The forward period is the period between signing the contract and the actual payout. You can usually secure the rates up to 60 months – that is five years – in advance; some providers go as far as 66 months. The further ahead you plan, the more expensive the reservation becomes.
For this interest-rate security the bank charges a forward premium (Forward-Aufschlag). This is an interest surcharge that is added to today's borrowing rate for each month of lead time. In simplified terms, the formula is:
- Forward rate = current borrowing rate + (premium per month × number of lead-time months)
According to current research by Finanztip (as of June 2026), the monthly premium ranges between 0 and around 0.017 percentage points per month. For the first twelve months, many banks do not charge any premium at all – here the transition to classic follow-up financing is fluid. A simplified calculation example: with a current rate of 4.0 percent, 36 months of lead time and around 0.012 percentage points premium per month, the result is a forward rate of around 4.36 percent per year. The actual terms always depend on creditworthiness, loan-to-value ratio (Beleihungsauslauf) and provider and can only be determined through an individual offer.
Genuine and non-genuine forward loans: the decisive difference
When comparing offers, you should look closely at whether it is a genuine (echtes) or a non-genuine (unechtes) forward loan. The difference lies in when the new fixed-interest period actually runs.
- Genuine forward loan: the agreed fixed-interest period only begins once the old loan is redeemed and the new one is paid out. If you agree on ten years of fixed interest, those ten years actually run from the payout date.
- Non-genuine forward loan: the fixed-interest period already begins when the contract is signed – even though the money does not flow until later. The fixed-interest period remaining for the usage phase is therefore shorter.
An example from Finanztip illustrates this: your financing runs until the end of 2027, and in mid-2026 you take out a forward loan with a ten-year fixed-interest period. With the genuine forward loan, the fixed period runs from the start of 2028 to the end of 2037 – a full ten years of use. With the non-genuine one, it already begins in mid-2026 and ends as early as mid-2036, thus only about 8.5 years after your original fixed period expires. Therefore only compare offers with an equally long actual fixed-interest period in the usage phase.
Acceptance obligation and the risk of falling rates
A forward loan is a binding loan agreement that you must honour even if it later proves disadvantageous. From this arises the central duty: the acceptance obligation (Abnahmepflicht). You must accept the loan on the agreed date at the fixed interest rate – even if mortgage rates have fallen by then.
Essentially, you are therefore entering into an interest-rate bet. If market rates rise above your forward rate by the end of your fixed-interest period, the bet pays off and you have made cheap provision. However, if rates remain stable or even fall, you will pay more over the entire new fixed-interest period than you would with a then-possible prolongation (Prolongation) or rescheduling (Umschuldung). The longer the forward period and the higher the cumulative premium, the greater this risk.
There is also the risk of a change in life plans: separation, a change of job, a move or a planned sale can mean that you no longer need the loan at all – yet you remain obliged to accept it. Anyone who anticipates such changes should not commit for the long term.
Non-acceptance fee and right of withdrawal
If you do not accept the agreed forward loan, the bank will charge you a non-acceptance fee (Nichtabnahmeentschädigung). This compensates the institution for the lost interest income it had budgeted for. It is calculated similarly to an early repayment penalty (Vorfälligkeitsentschädigung) and may only cover the actual loss. Depending on the loan amount, remaining term and interest-rate difference, this can quickly add up to several thousand euros.
There is, however, an important protective rule: like any consumer loan agreement, the forward loan is also subject to a 14-day right of withdrawal under §§ 495, 355 BGB. The period only begins once you have been properly informed about the right of withdrawal and have received all mandatory information. If you withdraw within the deadline, the acceptance obligation lapses without any fee. If the withdrawal notice is faulty, the period may be extended – so it is worth taking a look at the documents.
Because of the acceptance obligation and the possible fee, you should only take out a forward loan if you are very certain about the future use of your property.
When a forward loan is worthwhile – and § 489 BGB
A forward loan is particularly sensible when two conditions come together: your life circumstances are likely to remain stable – place of residence, work and partnership – and you expect rising mortgage rates. As a rule of thumb: taking one out pays off if market rates rise more by the follow-up date than your cumulative forward premium amounts to. Anyone who, by contrast, expects constant or falling rates, or chooses a very long lead time with a high premium, takes on a greater risk.
You should be aware of a statutory exit option: § 489 (1) no. 2 BGB grants a special right of termination. Accordingly, you can terminate a property loan with a fixed borrowing rate ten years after full receipt of the loan, with six months' notice – without an early repayment penalty. With a forward loan, this ten-year period only begins with the payout, since a new agreement on the borrowing rate replaces the original receipt. Anyone who has already been financing for a very long time can sometimes terminate the old loan under § 489 BGB and reschedule cheaply without a forward solution.
Process, costs and alternatives: prolongation and home savings contract
The process of a forward loan is manageable: you check your remaining debt and the end of your fixed-interest period, compare offers, set the forward period and the fixed-interest period and sign the contract. During the forward phase you continue your old loan unchanged; only on the agreed date does the new loan redeem the remaining debt.
The costs include the regular borrowing rate, the forward premium and – if you switch to another bank – notary and land registry costs for transferring the land charge (Grundschuld), usually around 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the loan amount. As guidance, Finanztip cites the rule of thumb of considering a change of bank if its terms are more than 0.1 percentage points above the comparison offer.
Possible alternatives are: the prolongation (Prolongation) (straightforward extension with your current bank on its current terms, usually without land registry costs), the rescheduling (Umschuldung) to another bank (often cheaper, but with more effort) and the home savings contract (Bausparvertrag), which is more suitable when the follow-up is still many years in the future. Sometimes, however, the more economical decision is a quite different one – namely the sale of the property instead of expensive continued financing. As a brokerage rooted in Düsseldorf for more than 60 years, we at Richter Immobilien-Transaktionen are then your discreet point of contact for a well-founded valuation and a smooth sale.
