On the left hand side of this page you will find details of links to Mortgage Brokers, Finance portals and Home Loan brokers and lenders from the UK and beyond....

We do not provide financial advice.  Therefore, if you are a UK based potential home buyer, we hope you find the following short overview useful as part of the process of contacting a qualified independent financial advisor. A mortgage is a contract with a lender that puts up your property as security against a loan. You cannot sell the property without the loan being paid off. If you fail to meet mortgage payments the mortgage lender has the right to repossess the property. The longer the mortgage period the smaller the monthly payments (however the overall cost is higher due to larger total interest repaid). The different mortgage types available including the following:-

1. Repayment mortgage
2. Endowment Mortgage
3. Pension Mortgage
4. Interest Only mortgage
5. Buy to let Mortgage
6. Foreign Currency mortgage
7. Capped Mortgage
8. Fixed rate mortgage.
9. Tracker Mortgage

Getting a home loan or mortgage can be complicated and time consuming exercise. The first step is to obtain qualified financial independent advice form a qualified IFA. IFA&'s are invaluable in working with a select band of mortgage companies and speeding through mortgage applications. They are best placed to advise on all mortgage products currently available in the marketplace. An IFA is constrained by legal obligations to investigate your financial needs in order to recommend financial products. They will have access to potentially thousands of mortgages products and can contact lenders directly � there are many to choose from. Tied Agents are paid by life, pensions or insurance companies to sell you their products. As a result they are not legally allowed to discuss other products on the market. They are usually found based amongst estate agents.

Next, calculate how much money you can actually borrow. Mortgage lenders will look at your deposit size and how much you earn. The smaller your deposit, the more your mortgage lender may charge you (supposedly for extra risk). The credit crunch of 2008 has changed the attitudes of lenders who previously promoted up to 6 times an applicant income. Mortgage lenders use simple a income multiple formulae; the general market calculation for single applicants is three times your annual income (excluding sales commissions). How much money you can borrow is also dependant on the mortgage products on the market; Lenders will dictate in their product range how much of the total value of the property they are prepared to lend you � this is known as the Loan to value (LTV). This is the % of the property value the lender is prepared to lend you; the balance being made up of your deposit from cash.

Next you have to choose the type of Mortgage best suits your needs. Standard Variable Rate (SVR) Mortgages link their variable interest to the Bank of England&'s published rate. Recently however, the inter banking rate (LIBOR) has gone up (even thought eh Bank of England's rate has come down). This demonstrates that lenders attitude towards market risk really dictates the variable rate borrowers can achieve. With fixed rate mortgages, the interest is set over a period of time, providing guaranteed knowledge to budget if interest rates unexpectedly rose. A Discounted Mortgage offers a headline grabbing deal (particularly for remortgages or first time buyers). A Capped Mortgage product is one where an upper limit is set against the variable rate. Within each mortgage the repayment may have two elements; capital and interest...

With a Repayment Mortgage (Capital & Interest) part of your monthly payment goes toward paying off the capital and part of the payment is interest on the capital. Every year the outstanding capital balance reduces, but not the repayments. With an Interest Only Mortgage, the payments to the lender are made up of interest. None of the capital of the mortgage is paid off until the mortgage term has completed.

Once you have applied for your mortgage, the Lender will undertake Credit Reference Checks. This may include copies of accounts for self certified applicants and or a phone call with an independent accountant. Employees may have to produce years of bank statements, pay slips, P60 and utility bills.

Next the lender undertakes a Property Valuation to assess the potential re-building cost of the property. Lastly, final mortgage approval is provided and monies released on the day of completion (subject to satisfactory building insurance confirmation) from the day of completion). The entire process can take from four weeks to three months on average.