Mortgage of the week

17 December 2007

17 December, 2007

MORTGAGE TALK'S PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

• Short term discount or tracker

The Abbey is offering a two year tracker scheme at the Bank of England base rate plus 0.04 per cent, equating to 5.54 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.8 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.9 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage within two years. There is a valuation fee of £260 and an arrangement fee of £999 that can be added to the loan.

• Short-term fixed rate

The Halifax is offering a fixed rate deal until 28 February 2010, at a rate of 5.69 per cent, reverting to its standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.75 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.8 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of the mortgage during the fixed rate period. There is a valuation fee of £315 and an arrangement fee of £999.

• Long-term fixed rate

The Nationwide is offering a five year fixed rate, at a rate of 5.63 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.24 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 6.9 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of the mortgage during the fixed rate period. There is a valuation fee of £295 and an arrangement fee of £499 that can be added to the loan.

• Long-term discount or tracker

The Alliance & Leicester is offering a five year discounted scheme at 1.7 per cent off its standard rate, equivalent to a current rate of 6.19 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.89 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.5 per cent APR. There is an early redemption penalty upon repayment of this loan up to the end of the discount period.

There is valuation fee of £280 and an arrangement fee of £149 that can be added to the loan.

• Cashback

The Abbey is offering a five year tracker mortgage at the Bank of England base rate plus 1.54 per cent, currently 7.04 per cent, with a 5 per cent cashback on completion.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.8 per cent APR. There is a requirement to repay the cashback on early repayment of the loan within the incentive period. There is a free valuation and no arrangement fee.

• Buy-to-let

BM Solutions is offering a fixed rate deal until 1 March 2010 at a rate of 5.24 per cent, reverting to its standard variable rate, currently 7.5 per cent, at the end of the period.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.6 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the first two years of the loan. There is a valuation fee of £390, while the arrangement fee of £2000 can be added to the loan.

There is no guarantee that it will be possible to arrange continuous letting of the property nor that the rental income will be sufficient to meet the cost of the mortgage.

• Remortgage

For those looking to remortgage, the Woolwich is offering a tracker at the Bank of England base rate plus 0.47 per cent for the whole of the term of the mortgage, currently equating to 5.97 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 6.2 per cent APR. This mortgage offers a free valuation, free legal work and no arrangement fee. Your existing lender may impose penalties if you switch your mortgage to a new lender.

• Lifetime tracker

The Norwich & Peterborough is offering a lifetime tracker deal at the Bank of England base rate plus 0.34 per cent for the full term of the loan, currently equating to 5.84 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 6.2 per cent. There is no Early Repayment Charge on this loan, but there is a valuation fee of £220 and an arrangement fee of £499, which can be added to the mortgage.

• 100 per cent mortgage

Mortgage Express is offering a tracker deal at Bank of England base rate plus 0.84 per cent for two years, currently equivalent to 6.34 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.5 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.7 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the discount period. There is no valuation fee, but an arrangement fee of £999 that can be added to the mortgage.

• Capped rate mortgage

Accord Mortgages is offering a tracker mortgage at a current rate of 6.04 per cent, capped until 31 January 2011 at a maximum rate of 6.54 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 7.75 per cent.

The overall cost for comparison is 7.7 per cent APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the capped rate period. There is a free valuation, but an arrangement fee of £995 which can be added to the loan.

Figures based on £150,000 purchase price or value and £100,000 repayment mortgage over 25 years. All figures are subject to revision, but current at time of going to press.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.