Jargon buster

Loan to Value (LTV): The size of your loan compared to the value of your property. E.g. An £80,000 loan on a £100,000 home is 80% LTV.

Stamp Duty: A tax you have to pay if you buy a house worth £125,000 or more. The rate of Stamp Duty depends on the purchase price of the house.

Fixed Rate: A mortgage where your interest rate is set for an agreed period. This means your monthly payments won't change within the agreed period.

Standard variable rate (SVR): The interest rate that you will pay at the end of any fixed/tracker period. This rate will normally change when the Bank of England’s base lending rate changes.

Tracker mortgage: A mortgage where the interest rate is linked to the Bank of England base rate. This rate is variable meaning that if interest rates fall, so do your repayments. However, your repayments will go up if interest rates increase.

Early Repayment Charge: A charge payable on certain types of loan if it is repaid or partly repaid within a certain period eg, during a fixed-rate period or while a discount applies.

Protection: Covers you against redundancy, long term illness or even death- helping to make sure you can pay back your mortgage.