Whether you are a first time buyer or already have a mortgage or looking for a new mortgage a mortgage is a loan to buy your home. You borrow money and pay it back with interest over a period of time that you agree with the lender – usually a bank or building society.

The loan is secured against your home so if for any reason you can’t repay it, the bank or building society can sell your home to get back its money.

How much can you borrow?

This depends on your personal circumstances, such as your income, your outgoings and whether you’re buying alone or with a partner and each lender has different lending criteria.

How to repay your mortgage

You can choose to pay your mortgage back in the following ways:

• Repayment – your monthly payment is split between paying off the loan and paying off the interest you owe on the loan;
• Interest-only – your monthly payment pays only the interest charges on your loan, and you must arrange some other way to repay the loan;
• A combination of the two.

The standard new mortgage term is 25 years, but you can choose a different term if it suits you and the lender agrees that you can afford it. With a shorter term, you’ll have higher monthly payments but pay less in total. With a longer term, you’ll pay less each month but more in total. Beware of having a mortgage term that continues past the age you retire unless you’re sure you’ll be able to afford the payments then.

Mortgage features and interest-rate deals

Once you’ve decided how to repay your mortgage, you can choose from different mortgage features and interest-rate deals.

If you are looking for mortgage advice and want independent advice you can contact WSS by clicking on the contact us section.

• Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

For mortgage advice we can be paid by a fee or by commission from the lender we arrange your mortgage with. The precise amount of any fee will depend on your own circumstances, but is typically 0.5% of the amount borrowed.