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.

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.