• A mortgage is a loan you take out with a lender for a number of years
• The length of time over which you have a mortgage is called your “mortgage term”
• Mortgage terms can be anywhere between 5 and 40 years
• A mortgage is a type of secured loan, which means it’s secured against a property – usually the property you want to buy with the mortgage
• Using a property as security for a loan means that the lender can repossess it if you don’t keep up the mortgage payments
• To take out mortgage, you must put down a mortgage deposit of at least 5% of the purchase price – the mortgage itself makes up the rest

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• When you take out a mortgage, you’re given an introductory interest rate for the first few years – typically between 2 – 5 years

• A popular kind of interest rate for first-time buyer mortgages is a fixed rate, which is where interest is charged at a set rate for a certain period.  Fixed rates are particularly good for those who like to budget
• After the introductory period ends, you’re transferred onto your lender’s SVR (standard variable rate), which is the interest rate they set themselves
• The lender’s SVR is normally higher than the introductory rate, so you would often remortgage onto a new product with a new lender when your introductory deal ends or take a new product with your existing lender

• You pay back your mortgage with interest
• There are 2 main types of mortgage which determine how you pay the lender – repayment and interest-only:
  • With a repayment mortgage, you pay back a bit of the outstanding mortgage balance – i.e. the amount you borrowed –  each month alongside interest payments
  • With an interest-only mortgage, you only make interest payments each month and repay the full mortgage at the end of the mortgage term