Christmas cracker mortgages whatever your deposit!

Our big festive round up of the best buy deals in town

Whether you have scraped together just a 10% deposit or you have 40% equity in your home and are looking for a new deal, we have done our homework to find some of the cheapest, best-value mortgages on the market right now.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a secure fixed rate, a super low tracker or a discounted deal, we have got them all, perfectly packaged.

These Christmas crackers can save you a fortune if you are a first-time buyer looking to make that all-important step onto the ladder, or an existing borrower trying to weigh up the benefits of remortgaging (if so check out my recent piece Why savvy switchers are remortgaging now!)

First up, what’s around for borrowers with a massive deposit or plenty of equity in their homes?

Top of the (Christmas) tree

If you have a very large deposit -- 35% of the property's value or more -- you have your pick of the best deals. Lenders reserve their very best mortgages for borrowers like you because you present them with a smaller risk than those with very little to put down upfront. With you they have a comfortable buffer between the current value of the property and the amount you owe them and this reassures them that they could recoup their money should you default on the loan.

On top of that they know that people with large deposits are also statistically less likely to default in the first place, so you are an all-round lower risk.

And you are rewarded with some very tasty deals indeed, including the ability to Fix for five years at under 4%. The table below shows some of the best:

15 fab deals if you have a massive deposit – 35% plus

A sackful of Christmas deals

If you have a decent-sized deposit but not quite 35% of the property’s value, fear not, because Father Christmas has a fine array of mortgage products available for you to choose from.

Related blog post

• John Fitzsimons writes:

  The long-term vs short-term fixed mortgage dilemma

  Does it make more sense to go for a short-term fixed rate, and shop around for a cheaper deal in a couple of years, or secure a decent rate for the long term?

  Read this post

In fact, it has swelled in the last year according to financial information provider Moneyfacts, which says that the number of products for those with a 25% deposit has increased by 50% in the last 12 months to 895 products. Those borrowers with 20% upfront have seen an enormous rise in products of 151% to 384 deals now available.

If you can put down 20% to 30% of the property’s value for example you are still considered a pretty low-risk borrower by lenders and some of the best buys at this level actually equal some of those for borrowers with a larger deposit.

Below are some of my favourites:

15 fab deals if you have a chunky deposit – 20% to 34%

A slim stocking

It’s fair to say that those borrowers with a small deposit are still at the bottom of the mortgage pile. These are very often first-time buyers who find it hard to scrape together more than 10% to 15% of their property’s value, but they can also include existing homeowners who borrowed a high percentage of their property’s value a few years ago and have seen their house price stagnate or even fall since.

Recent question on this topic

• REDBAIL asks:

  If my ex was jointly on our mortgage but never paid half is she entitled to half of the house?

  • 
    JoeEasedale answered "if she is on the mortgage then is she also on the house deeds? if so in what capacity. are you..."
  • 
    MikeGG1 answered "How was the split shown on the deeds?  Was there a Deed of Trust? Unless the documents show..."
  • Read more answers

Either way, you are considered high risk by lenders because there is such a small buffer between your outstanding mortgage and the value of your home. In a falling house price environment this becomes even more of a concern as negative equity looms.

In addition, borrowers with small deposits tend to be more likely to default on their repayments, plus regulatory rules means it actually costs lenders more to lend mortgages to those borrowing a high proportion of their property’s value.

However, things have improved in the last year with the number of mortgages up to 90% LTV growing by 76% to 204, and 85% LTV deals increasing by 85% to 470. So, you might not have the widest choice but it is much better than it was last Christmas!

Below are some of the best deals if you have a small deposit:

15 fab deals if you have a small deposit – 10% to 19%

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