Latest mortgage deals

The latest range of mortgage deals sees an increasing number of ten-year fixed-rate deals, in response to calls for longer fixed rate deals. The ones shown year are for around ten years and come with booking or arrangement fees that are at reasonable levels. Fixed rates will give certainty of repayment for the duration of the deal (ten years). Other deals here all follow the lender’s base rate, which will inevitably move up and down in response to the changing base rate of the Bank of England. Therefore you have to consider whether you can afford to make the repayments if interest rates were to rise again (as they are popularly predicted to do). You will of course benefit should interest rates start to come down again.

HSBC has a base interest rate tracker at 0.24% above the lender’s base rate, which is currently 6.75%. That makes the initial tracker rate 6.99%. There is a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) of 90%, and the track lasts for the whole term of the mortgage. The mortgage is portable should you move house. The lender provides a free valuation, and there are no booking fees or arrangement fees. There is no early repayment charge. With this mortgage you would be looking for interest rates to come down in early 2008 rather than continue to go up. The lack of up front fees may be attractive.

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society is offering an offset mortgage, starting at 6%. It tracks base rate, the lender’s rate being 7.39% currently. There is a maximum LTV of 80%. The lender will provide a free valuation depending on the value of the property. There is an arrangement fee of £499. There is no early repayment charge.

The idea behind offset mortgages is to use the value of savings against your debts. Thus, in an offset mortgage, your savings account is linked to your mortgage account, and your savings amount is use to reduce the balance of your mortgage.

Yorkshire Building Society is offering an offset mortgage, starting at 6.2%. It tracks base rate, the lender’s rate currently being 7.4% currently. There is a maximum LTV of 95%. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property. There is a booking fee of £195 and an arrangement fee of £400 which is added to the mortgage. There is no early repayment charge.

Alliance & Leicester have a discounted mortgage, with a 1.8% discount. As its base rate is currently 7.64%, this gives an initial interest rate of 5.84% for five years. There is a maximum LTV of 95%. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property. There is no booking fee and an arrangement fee of £149 which is added to the mortgage. There is no early repayment charge.

Yorkshire Building Society has a fixed rate of 6.54% to November 2017, with a maximum LTV of 95%. The loan is portable and there is a 0.3% cashback available. Early repayment charges work as follows: 7% of outstanding loan before 30/11/2010; 6% of outstanding loan in the next 2 years; 4% of outstanding loan in the next 2 years; 2% of outstanding loan in the next 2 years; and 1% of outstanding loan in the next year. There is no booking or arrangement fee.

The Woolwich is offering a fixed rate of 5.99% to September 2017, with a maximum LTV of 80%. The loan is portable. The early repayment penalty is 6% of the outstanding loan, payable over the whole ten years. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property. There is no booking fee, but an arrangement fee of £595 which is added to the mortgage.

Norwich & Peterborough Building Society has a fixed rate of 6.24% for ten years, with a maximum LTV of 90%. The loan is portable. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property. Early repayment charges work as follows: 5% of outstanding loan in the first 7 years; 4% of outstanding loan the next year; 3% of outstanding loan the next year; 2% of outstanding loan the next year. There is a £399 booking fee, but no arrangement fee.

HSBC Bank is offering a fixed rate of 5.74% to August 2017, with a maximum LTV of 90%. The loan is portable. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property. Early repayment charges work as follows: 10% of outstanding loan before 31/08/2008; 9% of outstanding loan the next year; 8% of outstanding loan the next year; 7% of outstanding loan the next year; 6% of outstanding loan the next year; 5% of outstanding loan the next year; 4% of outstanding loan the next year; 3% of outstanding loan the next year; 2% of outstanding loan the next year; 1% of outstanding loan the next year. There is no booking fee, but a £499 arrangement fee.