Precise Mortgages: top deals for prime borrowers in south England only

Specialist lender Precise Mortgages has launched a range of deals for the mainstream mortgage market. But only borrowers in the south of England can take advantage...

The north-south divide has become starker in recent years. Divergences between job opportunities, house prices and even the price of petrol are constantly being highlighted by reports and discussed in the media. But now the split is starting to appear in access to mortgages as well.

Precise Mortgages is a specialist mortgage lender that has made the jump over to offering mainstream mortgages to the likes of you and me. Well, so long as you are remortgaging or purchasing a property in the south of England. A full list of postcodes that are eligible can be found here.

So, why the exclusivity?

Alan Cleary, managing director at Precise told us that choosing to cater to the South is a "risk-based decision", whichmeans the lender can build a "balanced mortgage portfolio".

When you consider that up to now Precise has specialised in deals for ‘near prime’ borrowers - those with slight imperfections on their credit profile - that caution is perhaps understandable.

So are northern homeowners with a good credit profile looking to remortgage or purchase missing out on anything special?

To be precise

Precise’s prime mortgages have three tiers of criteria. Each level offers a choice of either a two-year or five-year fixed rate for maximum loan-to-values of 70%, 75% or 80%.

The best value mortgages (with rates between 3.49% and 4.59%) require borrowers to have no history of defaults, no CCJs and no mortgage arrears in the last 36 months.

The middle set of deals has slightly looser terms, with higher rates as a result (between 4.19% and 5.29%). There must be no defaults and no CCJs within the last 36 months and no mortgage arrears in the last 24 months.

The most lenient criteria for prime borrowers has the highest rates (between 4.99% and 6.39%). You must not have defaulted in the last 24 months, had no CCJS in the last 36 months and no mortgage arrears in the last 24 months.

As you can see the lending criteria on prime Precise Mortgages can be quite….precise! But are the deals competitive?

Putting the heat on

Firstly, it's worth noting that the new mortgages are very competitively priced.

For example, Precise's two-year fixed rate mortgage for a top prime homeowner wanting to purchase or remortgage will cost 3.49% with a product fee of £995 (£250 cashback is available on the fee for remortgages) on an LTV of 70%. That's not far behind the market-leadign deal from HSBC, over the same period and LTV, priced at 3.29% with a fee of £599.

The difference of 0.2% is minimal so borrowers concerned about the notoriously tough lending standards at HSBC will have greater choice when hunting for the best deal.

Another thing to note is that Precise Mortgages' only lends through mortgage brokers. Personally, I feel that speaking to a mortgage advisor is essential to help steer you towards the best product to meet your needs. But if you want to do it all yourself, these deals won't be available to you, even if you do live in the south!

North and south

The Precise Mortgages are competitively priced but here is a rundown of some other good two-year remortgage and purchase deals available to both northerners and southerners.

More stories on mortgages:

Rightmove: north-south divide in property asking prices continues

True cost of a month's mortgage payment holiday

Dealing with estate agents

Buy a property without a deposit

The most desirable property 'extras' revealed

At lovemoney.com, you can research all the best deals yourself using our online mortgage service, or speak directly to a whole-of-market, fee-free lovemoney.com broker. Call 0800 804 8045 or email mortgages@lovemoney.com for more help.

Use lovemoney.com's innovative new mortgage tool now to find the best mortgage for you online

At lovemoney.com, you can research all the best deals yourself using our online mortgage service, or speak directly to a whole-of-market, fee-free lovemoney.com broker. Call 0800 804 8045 or email mortgages@lovemoney.com for more help.

This article aims to give information, not advice. Always do your own research and/or seek out advice from an FSA-regulated broker (such as one of our brokers here at lovemoney.com), before acting on anything contained in this article.

Finally, we tend to only give the initial rate of a deal in our articles, but any deal which lasts for a shorter period than your mortgage term may revert to the lender's standard variable rate or a tracker rate when the deal ends. Before you take out a deal, you should always try to find out from your lender what its standard variable rate is and how it will be determined in the future. Make sure you take all this information into account when comparing different deals.

Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage