A mortgage is the contract between you and a lender, who agrees to loan you an amount of money to purchase or refinance a property.
It sets out the terms and conditions of how a lender will provide you with the money you need to buy your house or flat.
This will include all your personal details, covering things like: the term (the period of time over which you'll pay the money back) and the interest rate (the rate of interest the lender will charge you for the loan).
In the simplest terms, you're promising the lender you won't spend the money on something else, and that over time you'll pay it back.
LTV stands for "loan-to-value".
LTV is the amount that your loan (the mortgage) makes up compared to the total price (value) of the house you want to buy. For example, if you wanted to buy a house worth £100,000 and you had a £20,000 deposit, that means you'd need your mortgage to cover the other 80% of the price of the house. So your LTV would be 80%.
Generally, having a lower LTV means you'll have a few more options and better interest rates than having a higher LTV.
As you pay off your mortgage, your LTV goes down. So when it's time to remortgage, your LTV will usually be lower than when you first purchased.
Using the same example, if you're remortgaging 2 years later and your remaining mortgage amount is £75,000, your LTV is now 75%.
Total cost is the way we measure how much a mortgage will cost you over the initial term, that takes into account not only the interest rate, but also any fees and incentives (like cashback).
Sometimes, lenders only want you to pay attention to a low interest rate, because that mortgage will have extra fees that might cost you more altogether than a mortgage with a slightly higher interest rate and fewer or no fees.
Fees can include an arrangement fee, an administrative fee paid to the lender for arranging the mortgage, legal fees paid to your conveyancer or solicitor, and early repayment charges (a percentage fee if you decide you want to overpay or switch mortgages during your initial fixed term).
Likewise, lenders may incentivise you with offers like “free legals” (free solicitors provided by the lender), free valuations, and cashback payable when you complete.
It's not legally required, but we recommend it on every purchase since it protects against ownership disputes that surface after closing.
Flood, earthquake and subsidence damage are typically excluded and need to be added as riders.
Straightforward claims with full documentation are usually settled within three to four weeks.
Yes, we can file most transfer or new-connection requests up to two weeks ahead of your move-in date.
New connections without a prior account history usually require one; transfers on an existing good-standing account often don't.
Your agent keeps a direct line to each utility's connections desk and can escalate same-day.