Standard Life sold its mortgage and savings operating to Barclays in 2009. If you were looking to take out a mortgage with Standard Life you will need to look at Barclays or one of their competitors instead.
There are a number of different types of mortgage products on the market designed to match the borrowing needs of different kinds of customers.
It is often difficult for people to afford a first home due to the difficulty of saving up for a deposit. Many lenders offer specific buy to let mortgages aimed at remedying this problem. These frequently allow borrowers to take out loans of up to 95% of a property’s value, meaning they don’t have to save up as much. They may also allow close family to act as guarantors and offer discounted interest rates for an introductory period.
You cannot normally use a standard mortgage to buy a property to rent out. Instead, you will need to look at a buy to let mortgage which is intended for funding rental property purchases. The amount you can borrow may depend on the monthly rental value of the property.
Remortgaging can allow you to save money by letting you reduce your money repayments. This may be achieved by getting a better interest rate or spreading your mortgage over a longer period. You can also use remortgaging to increase your borrowing. This can leave you with spare cash once your old mortgage is repaid for home improvements and other agreed purposes.
Instead of remortgaging, it sometimes makes more sense to take out a separate secured loan when you need to borrow more. This can be done without disrupting your current mortgage, so is usually a popular option with people who already have a good deal on their existing mortgage.
When looking at different mortgage products you will notice that they usually state a maximum LTV or loan to value ratio. This tells you what percentage of a property’s value you will be able to borrow with that particular type of mortgage.
So, if a mortgage offers LTV of up to 70% then on a house worth £100,000 you would be able to borrow up to £70,000. Lenders will tend to offer better interest rates on mortgages with a lower LTV, so this is worth bearing in mind when considering how much to borrow.
When choosing a mortgage lender you need to be sure you are getting the best value possible. The best way to ensure this is to compare as many different mortgage products as possible so you can pick the one offering the best interest rates and other relevant features.
Our mortgage calculator makes this easy to do by allowing you to quickly compare mortgage deals from all the leading lenders. That way you can quickly and simply see which mortgages that match your requirements offer the best value. Head to the top of the page to try it out.