Mortgage of the Week

Short-term fixed rate

The Royal Bank of Scotland is offering a fixed rate deal until 30 June 2008 at a rate of 4.49 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.59 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6 per cent APR. An early repayment charge (ERC) is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the fixed rate period. There is a valuation fee of £255 and an arrangement fee of £699 that can be added to the loan.

Long-term fixed rate

The Barnsley Building Society is offering a long term fixed rate deal until 31 January 2011, at a rate of 4.79 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.49 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.2 per cent APR. An ERC is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the fixed rate period. There is a refundable valuation fee of £195 and an arrangement fee of £395 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 0.45 per cent, currently 4.05 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.49 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.4 per cent APR. An ERC 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 £500 that can be added to the loan.

Long-term discount

The Alliance & Leicester is offering a five-year discounted scheme, at a current rate of 4.79 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.59 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.1 per cent APR. An ERC is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage within five years. There is a valuation fee of £280, and an arrangement fee of £499 that can be added to the loan.

Cashback

The Abbey is offering a 5 per cent cashback variable rate deal at a rate of 6.5 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.8 per cent APR. There is a requirement to repay the cashback on early repayment of the loan within five years of the start date. There is a free valuation and no arrangement fee.

Buy-to-let

BM Solutions is offering a two-year tracker buy-to-let deal at the Bank of England base rate plus 0.19 per cent, currently 4.69 per cent, reverting to their standard variable rate, currently 6.45 per cent, at the end of the period. The overall cost for comparison is 6.6 per cent APR. An ERC 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 £1500 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 Halifax is offering a tracker deal of Bank of England base rate minus 0.11 per cent until 31 July 2008, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.5 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.4 per cent APR. An ERC is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the discount period. This mortgage offers a free valuation, free legal work but an arrangement fee of £499, which can be added to the loan.

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 0.39 per cent for the full term of the loan, currently equating to 4.89 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 5.29 per cent. There is no ERC on this loan, but there is a valuation fee of £220 and an arrangement fee of £599, which can be added to the mortgage.

100 per cent mortgage

The Royal Bank of Scotland is offering a fixed rate deal until 30 June 2008 at 5.39 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 6.59 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 6.7 per cent APR. An ERC is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the fixed rate period. There is a valuation fee of £255, and an arrangement fee of £699 that can be added to the loan.

Capped rate mortgage

The Coventry Building Society is a tracker mortgage, capped until 31 May 2009, at a current rate of 4.89 per cent, reverting to the standard variable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, currently 5.25 per cent. The overall cost for comparison is 5.4 per cent APR. An ERC is payable if you repay all or part of this mortgage during the capped rate period. There is no valuation fee, but an upfront arrangement fee of £199, plus an additional £350 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.

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

In certain circumstances Mortgage Talk may charge a fee for arranging your mortgage. A typical fee could be up to £299.