Mortgage of the Week

Short Term Fixed Rate

Halifax is offering a fixed rate deal until the 31 December 2008, at a rate of 4.79%, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.75%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6% 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 £300 and an arrangement fee of £499 that can be added to the loan.

Long Term Fixed Rate

Alliance & Leicester is offering a fixed rate deal until the 31 October 2011, at a rate of 5.09%, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.84%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.4% 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 £280 and an arrangement fee of £599 that can be added to the loan.

Short Term Discount or Tracker

BM Solutions is offering a two-year tracker scheme at the Bank of England Base Rate minus 0.65%, equating to 4.10%, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.74%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6% 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 £350 and an arrangement fee of £1000 that can be added to the loan.

Long Term Discount or Tracker

Northern Rock is offering a long term tracker scheme at Bank of England Base Rate plus 0.14% until the 1 December 2011, equivalent to a current rate of 4.89%, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.84%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.2% APR. There is an early redemption penalty upon full repayment of this loan up to the end of the tracker period. Part repayments are penalty free.

There is valuation fee of £455 and an arrangement fee of £795 that can be added to the loan.

Cashback

Chelsea Building Society is offering a mortgage at 6.59% until the 1 January 2012, with a 6% cashback on completion. The overall cost for comparison is 7.0% APR. There is a requirement to repay the cashback on early repayment of the loan within the fixed rate period. There is a free valuation and free legal work, but an arrangement fee of £595 that can be added to the loan.

Buy-to-let

BM Solutions is offering a two-year tracker buy to let deal at the Bank of England Base Rate minus 0.16%, equating to 4.59%, reverting to their standard variable rate, currently 6.7%, at the end of the period. The overall cost for comparison is 6.7% 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 refundable valuation fee of £350, while the arrangement fee of £795 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 Bank of Scotland is offering a tracker at the Bank of England Base Rate minus 0.16%, equating to a current rate of 4.59%, until the 31 January 2009, reverting to the standard variable rate of 6.9% for the remaining term of the mortgage. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6% APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the fixed rate period. This mortgage offers a free valuation, free legal work and no arrangement fee.

Lifetime Tracker

Northern Rock is offering a lifetime tracker deal at the Bank of England Base Rate plus 0.24% for the full term of the loan, currently equating to 4.99%. The overall cost for comparison is 5.2%. There is no Early Repayment Charge on this loan, but there is a valuation fee of £455 and an arrangement fee of £795, which can be added to the mortgage.

100% Mortgage

Norwich & Peterborough is offering a three-year discounted deal at 1.1% off its standard variable rate, equating to 5.64%. This reverts to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.74%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6% APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the discount period. There is a valuation fee of £220, but no arrangement fee.

Capped Rate Mortgage

Skipton Building Society is offering a tracker mortgage at a current rate of 5.00%, capped for three years to a rate of 5.5%, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.14%. The overall cost for comparison is 6.1% APR. An Early Repayment Charge is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the capped rate period. There is a valuation fee of £220, and an arrangement fee of £449 that 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.