Mortgages Uncovered

Nationwide, one of the UK’s remaining building societies, has said this week that it’s first time buyers mortgages are still one of the best deals around. This is despite having reduced their maximum Loan-To-Value on fixed and tracker mortgages from their original 90 to a whopping 75 per cent!

Of course, you can still have a higher Loan-To-Value if you like, you’ll just have to pay a higher lending charge and a higher interest rate.

In today’s climate, if you’re a first time buyer, that’s a pretty huge deposit to have to save – unless of course, your parents can help you out!

With the Nationwide, a first time buyer two year fixed rate deal on a £150k mortgage and a Loan-To-Value of 90 per cent will get you a 6.45 per cent interest rate and a reservation fee of £499.

However, the Post Office says its deal is far better with a three year fixed rate at 5.34 per cent and a reservation fee of only £399.

As we discussed in our earlier article, there are fewer and fewer 100 per cent and even 95 per cent mortgages available, and with the mortgage market ‘cooling down’ reducing the LTV is a trend that we think will continue for a while yet.