The questions we are asked most often, answered properly. No sales pitch, no assumed knowledge, and a glossary at the end for the words the industry refuses to stop using.
The questions first-time buyers and home movers ask us most.
Five per cent of the purchase price is the usual practical floor for a residential purchase, and there are schemes and guarantor arrangements for people with less. The more important point is that deposit size drives your interest rate. Lenders price in tiers, so moving from 5 per cent to 10 per cent typically shifts you into a materially cheaper band.
If you are close to a tier boundary, finding a small amount more is often the highest-return thing you can do with that money. Our loan-to-value calculator shows you which tier you fall in and how far off the next one you are.
It is a lender's initial indication of how much it would consider lending you, based on the information you provide and usually a credit check. It is not a formal offer and it binds neither side.
Get one before you start viewing. It tells you what you can realistically offer, and estate agents take offers from buyers who have one considerably more seriously.
This is what catches people out. Budget for stamp duty where it applies, solicitor's fees and searches, a valuation or survey, any lender arrangement fee, removals, and the immediate cost of furnishing the place. On a typical purchase that is several thousand pounds landing at once.
We give every client a written estimate of the lot at the outset, so nothing is waiting for you on completion day.
Yes. A gifted deposit is straightforward provided the paperwork is right: lenders want a signed letter confirming it is a gift rather than a loan, and evidence of where the money came from. There are also joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements, where a parent supports the affordability assessment without becoming a legal owner, which can matter for stamp duty.
What to do when a deal ends, and how to pay less over the term.
About six months before your current deal ends. Many lenders will hold an offer that long, and if rates fall in the meantime you can usually switch to the better one before completion. There is essentially no downside to being early and a very real cost to being late.
When a fixed rate ends you roll onto the lender's standard variable rate, which is almost always the most expensive rate they offer. Thousands of households pay it every month simply because nobody reminded them.
Sometimes. A product transfer stays with your existing lender, needs less paperwork and usually involves no legal work or valuation. It is often right for someone whose circumstances have changed for the worse, or who wants it done quickly.
But the rate is only competitive some of the time. It is worth checking rather than assuming, and we will tell you honestly when staying put wins.
Be careful. It lowers your monthly outgoings, which genuinely helps some households. But you are converting unsecured debt into debt secured on your home, spreading it over a much longer period, and usually paying more interest in total even at a lower rate.
Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. We will show you the full cost over the term before you decide, and we will tell you when we think it is a bad idea.
More than most people expect, particularly early in the term when most of your payment is interest. Most fixed deals allow overpayments of up to 10 per cent of the balance each year without penalty; above that an early repayment charge usually applies.
One tip worth knowing: ask your lender to reduce the term rather than the monthly payment. It feels the same each month and saves considerably more over the life of the loan.
The unglamorous conversation, and why the wording matters more than the price.
In this order, and it is not the order that pays the most commission. First, replace your income: you are far more likely to be off work for a long period than to die during the mortgage term. Second, cover the mortgage with life insurance. Third, cushion a serious illness with critical illness cover.
Critical illness costs more than life cover for the same sum, so it is often the one that gets trimmed. Trim it, do not skip it.
Because with critical illness cover, the wording is the product. Two policies can both say they cover a heart attack and mean materially different things, because one requires a higher threshold of evidence. Cancer definitions vary enormously in how they treat early-stage and non-invasive diagnoses.
The cheapest policy on a comparison list is frequently the one covering the fewest conditions under the narrowest definitions, and you will not discover that until you claim.
It is the gap between stopping work and the benefit starting, commonly four, thirteen or twenty-six weeks. It is also the single biggest lever on the price.
Setting it to match the point where your employer sick pay runs out, rather than choosing the shortest available, often cuts the premium substantially without leaving a gap.
Very often, yes, and it costs nothing to arrange at the outset. A policy in trust can pay out without waiting for probate, and it generally sits outside your estate for inheritance tax.
Trusts and taxation are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the right structure depends on your circumstances.
Including the parts other websites leave out.
This is the part that deserves your full attention. On a standard plan you make no monthly payments. Interest is added to the balance each year and then earns interest itself. At typical rates the total owed roughly doubles over about fifteen years.
That is not a reason to dismiss it, but it does mean two things: borrow the smallest amount that solves your problem, and use a drawdown facility so you only pay interest on what you have actually taken. If you can afford voluntary payments, even modest ones, the difference over twenty years is very large.
Not on a plan meeting Equity Release Council standards. Those carry a no negative equity guarantee: when the property is eventually sold, neither you nor your estate can be asked for more than the sale proceeds, even if the debt has grown beyond the value.
Several, and a firm that never mentions them is selling rather than advising. Downsizing releases more money at lower cost if you can face the move. A retirement interest-only mortgage keeps the balance flat if your pension can service the interest. Ordinary later life mortgages run further into retirement than most people assume.
Then the unglamorous checks: unclaimed Pension Credit or Attendance Allowance, local authority home improvement grants, or help from family. We ask about all of it before recommending anything.
Both, potentially. Means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit and Council Tax Reduction take savings into account, so a large lump sum sitting in a bank account can reduce or remove an entitlement.
And it reduces what you leave behind. We will not pretend otherwise. Some plans let you ring-fence a percentage of the value as a guaranteed inheritance, and we will show you the projection over ten, twenty and thirty years so you can see the effect rather than guess.
Stamp duty, our fees, and what talking to us does to your credit file.
All three UK regimes charge in slices, so you never pay the top rate on the whole price. Only the portion above each threshold is taxed at that band's rate.
The three nations differ more than people realise. First-time buyer relief in England and Northern Ireland disappears entirely above £500,000. Scotland has no upper price cap on its first-time buyer relief. Wales has no first-time buyer scheme at all. Additional-property charges start at £40,000 and work differently in each nation.
The first conversation is free, however long it takes and whether or not you go ahead. For equity release and later life lending we charge a fixed fee of £1,495, payable only on completion, so if your case does not complete you pay nothing.
Any fee for residential mortgage advice is agreed and confirmed in writing before you commit. Protection advice is normally paid for by commission from the insurer, which does not increase your premium.
No. An initial conversation with us involves no credit check and leaves no footprint. A search only happens later, with your explicit permission, if you decide to proceed with an application.
Twelve terms you will meet, in plain English.
Annual Percentage Rate of Charge. The total cost of the mortgage over its full term, including fees, expressed as a yearly rate. Useful for comparing deals that have different fee structures.
On income protection, the wait between stopping work and the benefit starting. Longer deferred period, lower premium.
An equity release facility where you take an initial amount and keep a reserve to dip into later, paying interest only on what you have actually taken.
A fee for repaying or overpaying beyond your allowance during a fixed or discounted period. Usually a percentage of the balance.
The test lenders apply to buy-to-let, checking the expected rent against a notional interest rate well above the one you will pay.
The loan as a percentage of the property value. Lenders price in tiers, commonly at 60, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95 per cent.
An Equity Release Council standard: neither you nor your estate can ever owe more than the property sells for.
Taking your existing mortgage deal with you when you move. Requires a fresh application and you must meet the lender's current criteria.
Switching to a new deal with your existing lender, without moving the mortgage elsewhere.
On whole-of-life cover, a premium reassessed at intervals that can rise, sometimes substantially, at each review.
The rate you roll onto when a fixed or tracker deal ends. Almost always the most expensive rate a lender offers.
The lender checking you could still afford the payments at a higher interest rate than the one you are being offered.
Eight of them, covering repayments, affordability, stamp duty, overpayments, loan-to-value, rental yield, payment holidays and equity release. No personal details, no credit check.
Run the numbersThe whole process from first call to completion, including realistic timings and what to have ready. So you know what you are walking into.
See the processIf your question is not answered here, ring us. A qualified adviser answers, the call is free, and there is no obligation to go any further.
Get in touchA free call with a qualified adviser. No credit check, no obligation, and a straight answer about what is realistic for you.