Skip to main content

Residential Mortgages

Buying a property can be the biggest financial (and emotional) decision you make. It is for this very reason that impartial advice is critical and at Lakeview we offer just that. Whether you are a first time buyer, already have a home and looking to remortgage or interested in purchasing a second home, the team at Lakeview can assist.

Rest assured our approach is to offer reliable and impartial mortgage advice appropriate your individual circumstances.

Finding the right mortgage to fit your needs can be a daunting experience. At Lakeview, our expert team of advisers are on hand to guide you through the process to ensure you get the right product. Our team will work with you to:

  • discover how much you could afford to borrow and the fees you will pay
  • source the best options from the market not just your current lender
  • breakdown how much your monthly mortgage payments are likely to be

Types of Mortgages

Standard Rate Variable Mortgages

Also known as a reversion rate mortgage, the SVR is the “default” rate set by a particular lender without any limited-term deals or discounts attached. Payments can go up or down according to changes in interest rates but, unlike a tracker, this does not track above the Bank of England Base Rate at a set percentage. Most fixed, tracker or discount loans will usually revert to SVR when the set period of time ends.

Advantages

  • Easy to switch lenders at any time without being penalised
  • Unlikely to face any early repayment charges
  • When interest rates are low, your payments may go down
  • Arrangement fees are generally lower compared to trackers or fixed rates

Disadvantages

  • A lender can raise or lower their SVR at any time which is out of your control
  • If interest rates go up, your payments will too
  • SVRs are not often the cheapest mortgage rates available

Fixed Rate Variable Mortgages

With a fixed rate mortgage, you pay an interest rate that stays the same for a set period, usually between two to ten years. Your repayments are exactly the same every month so you don’t need to worry about it fluctuating and the rate won’t change whatever happens to the Bank of England’s Base Rate or the lenders standard variable rate (SVR). Once the agreed period has ended the rate will revert to the lender’s SVR.

Advantages

  • Easier to budget for other household costs
  • Added security of knowing exactly how much you’ll pay each month
  • More manageable for first-time buyers and homeowners on a tight budget
  • We have recently seen some of the cheapest rates hitting the market

Disadvantages

  • A fee is usually charged when arranging a fixed rate mortgage
  • You may miss out on more competitive interest rates if the lender’s SVR drops to less than the fixed rate
  • Most fixed-rate mortgages come with an early repayment charge (ERC) if you need to get out of the deal before the fixed term end.

Tracker Rate Mortgages

These are another type of variable rate mortgages that work by following (or tracking) the movements of another rate. Most commonly, this is the Bank of England Base Rate although some lenders may specify something else. Tracker mortgages don’t match the rates they track, but instead are a margin above that rate, so with a base rate at 0.5% when tracking base rate plus 1% the rate would be paid at 1.5%. Tracker rates can be for an introductory period (usually between one to five years) or you can get a lifetime tracker for the whole term of your mortgage.

Advantages

  • When interest rates drop, so will your payments
  • Introductory rates are often some of the lowest variable interest rates you can get
  • Arrangement fees and ERCs are usually lower than fixed-rate mortgages
  • While interest rates are low, you can take the opportunity to overpay your mortgage, although some lenders don’t allow this without financial penalties

Disadvantages

  • If interest rates rise, your payments will go up
  • Element of uncertainty surrounding your monthly repayments
  • Possible high variable rate once introductory period ends
  • Some lenders place restrictions on how much their rates can fall

Discount Mortgages

Another type of variable rate mortgage, the term “discount” is used because because the interest rate is set at a certain level below the lender’s standard variable rate. These deals usually last between two to five years and the discount will remain constant throughout that period even when the SVR fluctuates. However, this does means that payments won’t be the same each month as they are still tied to the SVR.

Advantages

  • Your rates will always remain below your lender’s SVR for the length of the deal
  • When the SVR is low, your discount mortgage deal will have a very low rate of interest
  • More manageable repayments for the first few years of your mortgage deal

Disadvantages

  • Borrowers who get a particularly large discount may be in a vulnerable position when the discount ends and they are transferred to their lender’s SVR
  • Payments from month to month won’t stay the same, making it difficult if you’re on a tight budget
  • Early repayment charges may apply if you pull out of a discount mortgage deal before the end of the agreed period

At Lakeview, we understand that every client has a unique set of circumstances and during your consultation we will leave no stone unturned to find you the most suitable mortgage deal. We are totally independent and as a whole of market mortgage broker, we aren’t tied to any particular lenders so will only concentrate on getting you the very best deal.

We will never charge until the completion of your application and we offer a 100% free mortgage consultation, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.

As a mortgage is secured against your home, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up the mortgage repayments.

CONTACT US

Mortgage Products

Before thinking about what type of mortgage is most suitable for you, the first thing that needs to be considered is how you pay back the capital you borrow and how you pay the interest on it.

The repayment options are:

Repayment Mortgages – Each monthly payment pays off a little of the underlying capital along with interest on the loan. This means that over time the amount of money you owe will gradually decrease and providing all payments are made in full and on time, the mortgage will be cleared at the end of the term. This is widely considered to be the most easy to understand and least risky mortgage type.

Interest Only Mortgages – With this type of mortgage, you only pay off the interest on the loan but not the capital. Once the mortgage term is over, you are expected to repay the capital which you usually need to fund via some kind of investment policy. Mortgage endowment policies used to be the preferred method but more recently people are choosing to use Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and pensions as they can also benefit from the tax breaks these products offer.

Below are the various types of mortgage products available.

Other than these, you may be eligible for one or more of the following:

  • Capped rate mortgages
  • Cashback mortgages
  • Offset mortgages
  • 95% & 100% mortgages
  • Flexible mortgages
  • First time buyer mortgages
  • Buy to let mortgages