The Different Types of Mortgages Explained

The Different Types of Mortgage

From First-Time Buyer Mortgages in Newcastle to Moving Home in Newcastle, to Remortgages in Newcastle – When you start out looking for a mortgage it will quickly become apparent that you have a whole array of mortgage types available for you to choose from.

Below you will see a list of the most popular types of mortgages we encounter on a regular basis that are available on the market.  If you have any questions regarding one of these mortgage options, then please do not hesitate to contact us and an experienced mortgage advisor in Newcastle will be in touch to see how they can help you get the ball rolling.

What is a Fixed Rate Mortgage?

A fixed rate mortgage means that your mortgage payments are going to remain as they were for the length of time that has been agreed on between you and the lender. You are the one who can set the length of which you want to fix your payments for, with the usual options customer opting for being 2, 3 or 5 years or longer.

Regardless of what happens to inflation, interest rates or the economy, you can rest assured that your monthly mortgage repayments, usually your biggest financial outgoings each month, will remain as you are used to, providing financial stability for you.

What is a Tracker Mortgage?

A tracker mortgage means that your interest rate will follow along with the Bank of England’s base rate. What this basically means, is the lender that you are with is not the one who sets your mortgage rate and you will be paying a percentage above the Bank of England base rate.

In an example, if the base rate is 2% and you are tracking at 1% above base rate, that means you will be paying a rate of 3%.

What is a Repayment Mortgage?

When you take out a repayment mortgage this means that each month you are paying a combination of both interest and capital.

So as long as you are able to keep up your monthly mortgage repayments for the full length of the mortgage term, the mortgage balance is guaranteed to be paid off at the end and the property will then become yours completely.

This is the most risk-free way to pay your capital back to a mortgage lender. In the early years of your mortgage term, it is mainly the interest that you are paying and your balance will reduce at a very slow rate, especially if you have taken out a mortgage that stretches over 25, 30 or more years.

This situation then changes in the last ten years of your mortgage, where your payments are paying off more capital than interest and the balance will be reducing at a much quicker rate than it was at first.

What is an Interest Only Mortgage?

Most buy to let mortgages are set up on an interest-only basis, however, landlords may find it much more difficult to get a residential property with this type of mortgage.

Nowadays, finding a lender who is willing to offer this will be hard to come by, though there are certain circumstances where this can be an option. These include downsizing your home when you are older or have other investments what you will use in order to pay back the capital.

Lenders are very strict when it comes to offering these products now and the loan to values are a lot lower than they were in previous years.

What is an Offset Mortgage?

With an offset mortgage, the lender will set you up a savings account to go alongside your existing mortgage account.

How this works is that let’s say you have a mortgage balance of £100,000 and £20,000 is deposited into your savings account, then you will only pay interest on the difference, which in this case would be £80,000.

This can be a very efficient way of managing your money, especially if you are a taxpayer that pays much higher rates than others.