A mortgage can be defined as the transfer of an interest in property to a lender as a security for a debt, usually a loan of money. While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is the lender's security for a debt. It is a transfer of an interest in land or an equivalent property, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. A remortgage, also defined as refinancing, is the process of paying off one mortgage with the proceeds from a new mortgage using the same property as security. The term is mainly used commercially in the United Kingdom, though what it describes is not uniquely British. Often the purpose of switching is to secure a more favorable interest rate from a different lender. The process of remortgaging does not usually involve moving home or taking out a second mortgage on the property; it is in effect the transfer of a mortgage from one lender to another. Homeowners may choose to remortgage for various reasons, including to reduce the size of repayments, to pay off a mortgage earlier, to raise capital, or to consolidate other debts.