We have partnered with Fluent money who are an award winning mortgage broker and will search hundreds of mortgage offers to find the right one for you
Whether you are looking to buy a new home or remortgage your current property to get better rates or to release equity you can easily compare your options here.
Maybe it is your first home or you are looking to invest in property with a buy to let mortgage we compare a huge panel of lenders to make sure we have a solution for you. You will be matched with an assistant who you can contact through an app at any time or see real time updates of your application through the portal.
Our experts will go through everything in a step by step process to help you compare the best mortgage options for you.
If you are on a fixed term mortgage, we always recommend that you switch your mortgage when the fixed period is coming to an end so that you do not go onto the lenders variable rate which is usually more expensive than your current repayments.
This may sound obvious, but when comparing your mortgage make sure you can afford the repayments, remember that the mortgage payment isn’t the only bill each month, you need to consider and council tax, paid TV subscriptions, mobile phone contracts, broadband, gas and electric, water, TV license and any maintenance if you are a leaseholder. Plus you will need to add any food and transport costs plus any living expenses. If things are looking tight, you could look at a mortgage over a longer period, some offer up to 35 years now, and that can save you a lot of money per month, but remember it will take you longer to pay off than a shorter mortgage so the interest repayment will be higher.
Loan to Value, the lower the LTV, the lower your repayments will be. The loan to value is the percentage of your loan (mortgage) compared to value of the property. The property value is based on the mortgage companies assessment of the property, not what you are willing to pay for it, they will typically have a online system that they can use to estimate the property value but they may also send out an expert to value the property. Most mortgage providers cap the LTV at 90% although some schemes like the Help to Buy can offer 95% LTV mortgages.
When you compare your mortgage it is worth speaking to the advisor and seeing what the difference in your repayments if you increase the LTV by a few percentage points, the majority of the time you will not get a preferential interest rate if your LTV is 81% compared to 83%, the 2% difference doesn’t bring down the overall interest rate, so would having the extra 2% in your pocket help you when you move for bills such as stamp duty or renovating the property?
The interest rate will depend on the LTV, generally, those with a higher deposit (or a lower loan to property value), will receive better rates. The interest rates are linked to the Bank of England’s base rate, but the mortgage company does not need to pass on any savings if the base rate goes down, and likewise, they don’t have to increase rates when the base rate increases. You will usually get a lower interest rate at the beginning of the mortgage but you will have to pay a fee if you repay your mortgage early during these lower rates period.
There are 2 main types of interest rates to compare on a mortgage; fixed rate mortgage and variable rate mortgage.
A fixed rate mortgage offers a fixed interest rate for a set period of time (typically 2, 3 or 5 years although 10 years is becoming available too), your repayments will not change during this fixed period regardless of what is happening in the wider economy. If you are on a fixed 2% interest mortgage for 5 years and the Bank of England increased it’s base interest rate to 10% you would still pay the 2% interest as agreed, but when your fixed period came to an end, you will have to pay the agreed interest rate which is the banks interest rate which is linked to the Bank of England’s base rate.
A variable mortgage offers no guarantees on what your repayments would be from one month to the next because your interest rate can go up or down depending on the UK economy and led by the Bank of England’s base rate. The mortgage lenders have been historically very quick to pass on rate rises, but a little bit slower to pass on any savings. A variable rate mortgage may look cheaper when you compare, but you must do your calculations to work out what your repayment would be if the interest rate went up 0.5% or 0.75% which it is thought it could do in 2020 or 2021.
If you are considering a fixed rate mortgage and you are offered different lengths, think about what your life stage could be when the fixed rate comes to an end and you will need to remortgage, if you are buying a house because you want to start a family will the household income still be the same when you come to remortgage? This can make the affordability checks more difficult with the lenders if the household income is lower so it could be wise to take a longer fixed period, but then you need to be conscious that you might want to move house in 3 or 4 years time but you have a 5 year fixed mortgage so you will need to check if you can port your mortgage to the new property or will you have to pay any early repayment charges?
How long should you get the mortgage for? Generally speaking, the shorter the term, the better it is because you are paying less interest and your mortgage is paid off quicker. However, check that you can afford the higher repayments compared to a mortgage 1, 2, or 5 years longer. A typical mortgage is for 20 – 25 years, but now a days it is possible to get a 35 year mortgage to allow manageable repayments on the property.
Before you start looking at properties and putting offers in, you will need to know what budget you have available, therefore it is best to compare what mortgages are available to you at the start. You will do an application and be offered a decision in principle, this is lender saying you are likely to get a mortgage for a particular amount provided the information you have given is factually correct, you are not obligated to take the mortgage and likewise the lender is not committed to approve your mortgage. They have simply taken a glance at your incomings and outgoings and also looked at your credit score to determine if they would consider lending to you.
The decision in principle will be valid for 90 days, after this period you will either need to progress with the full application or reapply. You do not want to continuously reapply for a decision in principle because this can adversely affect your credit score thus harming your chances of approval. If you go ahead with the company that offered the decision in principle the application process will be slightly shorter because you have already completed a lot of the questions.
When you remortgage, you effectively change the mortgage on your property. Often you will save money by changing your mortgage supplier or switching to a different mortgage deal with your current supplier.
Home purchase mortgages are for homeowners who already have a mortgage but are now looking to move to a new home. You may find a brilliant rate by switching to a new deal.
Many mortgage providers have exclusive deals for first time buyers often this includes incentives such as low fees, contribution towards legal costs and even cashback.
But-to-let mortgages are applicable to those who wish to rent out their property and those wishing to remortgage a property that is already receiving a rental income.
The Help to Buy scheme is backed by the government to aid first-time buyers who struggle to save a deposit and home owners who have limited equity in their home.
You can get free mortgage advice and information on all the deals available in the whole market from our dedicated mortgage partners. You can speak to a mortgage expert, 7 days a week on 0800 880 7656.
Speak to an FCA registered independent advisor who will talk you through the whole market, explaining which are the best deals for your circumstances
A mortgage is a type of a loan which is used to buy a property. The amount you borrow is secured against the value of the property.
There are 2 types of repayments:
The amount you can borrow is based on a number of factors including the LTV (loan to value) of the property, your income, credit score, current commitments and outgoings and how much deposit you can afford to put forward.
It depends on the property price, some lenders offer mortgages with a 5% deposit. If you can afford 15% or more deposit, it should help reduce mortgage interest rates.
It is important that the building is insured. Mortgage payment protection and life insurance are also recommended.
You should consider followings:
Yes, usually you are allowed to make extra payment up to 10% of the balance annually without being penalised.