MORTGAGES
Mortgage Types/ Jargon Busting
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Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
What is a Fixed-rate Mortgage?
A Fixed-rate Mortgage is a contract between the client and the lender where they will ensure that the rate on your mortgage is fixed for a period of time. Usually, you can have these agreements over one, two, three, five, and even ten years.
Your monthly payments on your mortgage will remain the same during that Fixed-term, which helps you to budget. When the Fixed-rate ends you go onto the lender’s Standard Variable Rate.
What is a Variable-rate Mortgage?
With a Variable-rate, each lender dictates their own Standard Variable Rate of interest, which traditionally is a lot higher than any of the other deals you can get.
The downside of a Variable-rate is that you pay a higher rate of interest, but they’re probably one of the most flexible rates around because there are no tie ins, no penalties if you want to transfer from one lender to another.
The lender can, however, put their Standard Variable Rate of interest up and down, at any time.
What is a Tracker-rate Mortgage?
A tracker mortgage tends to be linked to the Bank of England base rate, which is currently 0.1%.
It has been a lot higher in the past, but currently, it’s very low. Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, and the Monetary Policy Committee will decide whether the base rate goes up or down. A Tracker-rate follows the Bank of England base rate, so your mortgage payments go up and down with it.
What is a Discounted Rate Mortgage?
A Discounted Rate Mortgage is similar to a Tracker-rate, but it gives you a discount off the lender’s Standard Variable Rate. If the lender’s Standard Variable Rate is 5% and you’re getting a discount of 2.5% off the lender’s Standard Variable Rate, then you will be paying a rate of 2.5%.
The discounted rate is linked to the lender’s Standard Variable Rate, so changes in accordance with that. So if it rises to 6%, you still have a 2.5% discount, but your interest rate will then be 3.5%.
What is an Offset Mortgage?
Offset Mortgages have become popular over the last twenty years or so and it benefits people who have got savings and a mortgage. The Offset Mortgage utilises the balance in the applicant’s bank or building society to offset their mortgage interest. For example, if you have a mortgage of £100,000 and £50,000 in savings, the lender only charges you interest on the £50,000 of your mortgage.
The benefit of this is either that your monthly repayments are reduced as a result of lower interest liability or you pay the repayment as if there were no interest savings and reduce your capital a lot quicker.
What Mortgage Repayment types are there?
Capital Repayment
With a Capital Repayment Mortgage, every monthly payment you make consists of an element of the capital you originally borrowed and the interest that accrues on top.
As you make your way through your mortgage term, you will see the balance reduces continuously until at the end of your mortgage term you will be left with a zero balance.
Interest-only
With an Interest-only Mortgage, each monthly payment only pays the interest that you’ve accrued.
This means that at the end of your mortgage term, you are still left with the original loan to repay. Typically this is used for investors or anyone
that has a repayment vehicle, such as selling the investment property in order to clear the balance.
What Flexible Mortgage features are available?
Overpayments
Overpayments allow the client to be able to overpay on their mortgage. Most lenders will allow overpayments of up to 10% without any penalties at all.
So if you’ve inherited some money or have an additional sum of money available, most lenders allow you to overpay by 10% of your mortgage balance every year without any penalties, meaning you can finalise your mortgage more quickly.
Flexible Mortgage
With a Flexible Mortgage, you can overpay whenever you want, however much you want. So there’s no limit to the flexibility.
The difference is that lenders will charge you more for a flexible mortgage rate, than a traditional rate, because they know that you potentially could pay that off quite quickly. These are great mortgages, however, for those who have extra income regularly and want to pay off their mortgage without penalties.
Repayment Holiday
We’ve seen a lot of repayment holidays recently with the pandemic and the government has encouraged lenders to allow people to take payment breaks.
Always check with your lender, but if available, this gives you the ability not to have to make a mortgage payment in difficult financial situations.
Outside of the pandemic, maybe if you lose your job or something like that, however, lenders usually apply criteria to the break. There’s usually a maximum term that you can take a payment break for. Some lenders may say you’ve just got to cover the interest, rather than the whole repayment.
With flexible mortgages, where you’ve overpaid, you can usually then take a payment break. However, it’s strongly advisable to check that with your lender first before just going ahead, because it could have an impact on your credit score.
Porting
Porting your mortgage can be a good way to save costs on your mortgage. Many people think because they’re tied into a rate, they can’t move their mortgage deal during that period of time without paying a penalty.
Porting, however, lifts the mortgage from your current home and moves it to another property without any penalties.
You’re not breaking the contract if you port your mortgage, just moving it from property to property. You may need to borrow a bit more to complete that deal, which you then borrow from the same lender and top up your current mortgage.
If you have a great rate and you don’t want to lose it, porting allows you to move house when you’re still contracted on that rate, with the same lender.
Cashback
Cashback is used as a way to incentivise clients or incentivise them to take their mortgage products.
There are many forms of cashback, for example, a lender may give you cashback to pay for your solicitors’ costs so that you Remortgage with them. Some lenders will give First Time Buyers cash to help with their costs and some lenders will just give you a cash incentive at the end of the transaction if they move to them.
Schemes to help people get onto the property ladder
Guarantor Mortgage
There are not too many guarantor mortgages around nowadays. A typical example would be if somebody had credit issues in the past and is unable to get a mortgage to buy a property, parents with a near perfect credit history will be their guarantor, which means the lender uses their assets, either savings or their property, as security.
If the applicant were to miss some payments, then the mortgage payments and the responsibility would fall to the guarantor.
Family-assist Mortgage
Family-assist Mortgages tend to come in two different formats.
The first allows the client to borrow 100% of the property price, and their parents or other relatives put around 10% of the property price into a savings account with that mortgage lender, which they will be unable to access for a set period of time, usually two, three or five years, however, they would earn interest on it.
The second type is a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor Mortgage, where the owner of the property is the sole owner, but the borrowers would be their plus, perhaps a parent, who would also add their income, when they’re not able to borrow enough on their own.
First Homes Scheme
The First Homes scheme is a government-backed initiative designed to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder by offering newly built homes at a discount of 30% to 50% below their actual market value.
You typically only need a 5% deposit (based on the discounted price), and you must secure a mortgage for at least 50% of the home’s cost. To be eligible, your household income must be £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London), and the home cannot cost more than £250,000 (£420,000 in London) after the discount is applied. It is important to note that the discount is locked to the property forever. This means when you eventually decide to move, you must sell the home to another eligible first-time buyer at the exact same percentage discount you received.
Mortgage Guarantee Scheme
The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme helps buyers secure a property with a deposit of just 5%. It works behind the scenes, with the government providing a financial guarantee to mortgage lenders. This gives banks the confidence to offer 95% mortgages to buyers without taking on all the risk.
This scheme is now permanently available across the UK and applies to standard properties (typically excluding new-builds) up to the value of £600,000. Because you are only putting down a 5% deposit, your mortgage will cover the remaining 95%. While this means your monthly payments might be higher compared to having a larger deposit, it allows you to buy a home much sooner without needing to save a massive lump sum.
Lifetime ISA (LISA)
A Lifetime ISA is a tax-free savings account designed specifically to help you save for your first home. If you are aged between 18 and 39, you can open an account and save up to £4,000 each tax year.
The biggest advantage of a LISA is the government bonus: they will add a 25% bonus to your savings, meaning you could receive up to £1,000 of “free” money every year. You can use these funds and the bonus toward the deposit of your first home, provided the property costs £450,000 or less. However, be aware that if you withdraw the money for anything other than buying your first home (or for retirement after age 60), you will face a 25% penalty charge on the withdrawal, which means you will actually get back slightly less than you originally paid in.
Shared Ownership Scheme
With the Shared Ownership Scheme, you become a homeowner, but the ownership of the property would be shared with a housing association.
For example for a house of £100,000, you could choose to buy 50% share and would only need a mortgage for the 50% that you own. It can be quite complicated, but mortgage brokers will help to explain additional options, such as staircasing, which allows you to purchase more of the property over time.
Right to Buy/Right to Acquire
Right to Buy is typically for council tenants and it gives them a discount on the price of the home they are living in, depending on the length of residency.
You don’t need a deposit if the affordability fits with the lender. If the market value of the property is £100,000 and your discount is 35%, they would offer you that property for £65,000. A mortgage lender that offers the Right to Buy Scheme would use the discount of £35,000 as your deposit.
Right to Acquire is very much the same thing, but is usually from employers, for example, military housing or NHS towers. The councils or the original homeowners retain the first rights to sale within the first five years to prevent people from profiting from the discount, however, the option to sell it back to them is there, if you really needed to.
Your home/property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Some Buy-To-Let Mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Happy Clients
Jyoti Bains2026-04-02I’ve known Mohit for past so many years, and in that time I’ve seen firsthand just how dedicated, honest, and knowledgeable he is, both professionally and personally. As a mortgage advisor, Mohit goes above and beyond. He takes the time to really understand your situation, explains everything clearly (no jargon or pressure), and make what can feel like a stressful process so much smoother and more manageable. What really stands out is his integrity, you genuinely feel he has your best interests at heart. It’s rare to find someone who combines expertise with such a personal touch. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or remortgaging, you’re in very safe hands. Highly recommend to anyone looking for trustworthy, reliable mortgage advice!
Dripesh Chauhan2026-03-26I would like to thank you Mortgage Matchmakers in helping out the mortgage for our second home. Specially I would like to thank you Bhavna for her dedication and professionalism during the process. I will highly recommend Bhavna of Mortgage Matchmakers Limited for anyone looking for a mortgage. Dripesh & Reena
Jaya Bhardwaj2026-03-17Our experience with Bhavna from mortgage matchmakers has been absolutely fantastic. We have been using her for a while now to get mortgages on several of our properties, including buy to let properties purchased through our limited company and she has always managed to find fantastic deals for us. What particularly stands out is her communication, prompt responses to any queries and her efficiency. Even after the mortgage is approved, she constantly keeps looking to see if any better deals arrive on the market and lets you know if this is the case. She manages everything for you and we have never had any issues with any of the mortgage deals she has sorted for us. Doing business with her is a great pleasure and I would highly recommend Bhavna at Mortgage matchmakers for all of your mortgage needs.
Avanish Tantry2026-03-17I have used Mortgage Matchmakers for several mortgages now and am very happy with their service. Bhavna Grover, who has been our mortgage advisor, is excellent and I can’t recommend her enough. She is professional, very hard working, extremely prompt with her responses and gets things done in super quick time. She has always managed to find really competitive deals for me, including limited company but to let mortgages, and keeps looking out for better deals right till the end. I couldn’t ask for anything more and she completely takes the stress and hassle out of obtaining mortgages. If you are looking for a mortgage advisor and company, look no further than Bhavna and Mortgage Matchmakers.
Richard Smith2026-03-11Mohit was very professional and clearly has a good knowledge of the mortgage market. He was able to secure us a rate ahead of the increase that came in 8 hours later! Would highly recommend for all mortgage related enquiries.
Michael Wheller2026-03-04Excellent service and useful advice all the way through the process of setting up the new mortgage.
Julianaa Raghu2026-02-18I had an exceptional experience working with Mohit Mehra. As a first-time buyer, I was nervous about the process, but Mohit made everything feel straightforward and stress-free. He was incredibly responsive, patient and always answering my questions quickly and explaining complex terms in plain language. The communication was exceptional. I felt they truly had my best interests at heart and went above and beyond to ensure a smooth closing. I highly recommend their services to anyone looking for a reliable and professional mortgage broker!
Hameed Wahedi2026-02-01I was dealing with Ankur for my remortgage and I am highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or remortgage their property. Thanks
Sope Famo2025-11-21Mohit from Mortgage Matchmakers was a pleasure to work with, making the process as simple as it could have ever been and was always on call to answer any questions. He was super helpful and impressively quick, which is rare when it comes to securing a property/mortgage. Thanks to Mohit we've had our mortgage approved and can move on to the next steps. I would highly recommend Mohit due to reliability and speed along but also his friendliness! Thanks a lot Mohit!!
Angela Kibia2025-11-20We had an excellent experience working with Mohit Mehra at Mortgage Matchmakers. From the beginning he was professional and very supportive. He made the whole process smooth as his communication was amazing. He was always quick to respond and provided updates. Thanks to Mohit we received a successful mortgage offer! We highly recommend Mohit to anyone looking for a reliable mortgage broker.