Doing the legwork yourself

Using a broker can be genuinely helpful if your income is complicated, you are self-employed, or your credit history needs some explaining. But for a straightforward purchase or remortgage — a steady salary, a sensible deposit, a clean credit file — comparing deals yourself is perfectly achievable, and it puts you in charge of the numbers. The catch is that you have to compare like with like. The deal with the lowest headline rate is very often not the cheapest one once fees, charges and the length of the fix are taken into account.

Get your numbers straight before you look at rates

Lenders price mortgages in loan-to-value (LTV) bands, so your deposit decides which deals you can even see. Spend twenty minutes working out your position before you open a single comparison table.

• Your deposit as a percentage. The main bands are 60%, 75%, 85% and 90% LTV. Moving from 90% to 85% can knock a full percentage point off your rate, which on a £250,000 mortgage is roughly £150 a month. Sometimes adding a few thousand pounds to your deposit pays for itself within a couple of years.
• What you can realistically borrow. Most lenders work to around 4 to 4.5 times income, less if you have dependants, childcare costs, car finance or credit card balances.
• Your outgoings. Pay down or clear small debts before applying if you can. A £200 monthly car payment can reduce your maximum borrowing by tens of thousands.
• Your credit report. Check it with all three main agencies before you apply, and fix any errors. Lenders use the data, not your memory of it.

Then get a decision in principle from two or three lenders. It is a soft check, it is free, and it tells you what you can genuinely offer on a property.

Compare the rate that actually applies

A mortgage has at least two rates: the initial rate for the fixed or discounted period, and the standard variable rate (SVR) it reverts to afterwards. The SVR is usually far higher, so a two-year fix at 4.4% is not automatically better than a five-year fix at 4.6% — after two years you may be moved onto something near 7.5%, and remortgaging costs money and takes time.

Ask yourself three questions about every deal. How long is the initial period? What is the follow-on rate? And what will it cost me to arrange? The annual percentage rate (APR) can be useful as a rough guide because it folds in fees, but it assumes you keep the mortgage for the full term, which most people do not. Trust your own calculations over the headline figure.

Fees that quietly change the deal

Two deals can look £30 a month apart and end up costing the same once charges are added. Work through this list for each one:

• Arrangement or product fee. Commonly £0 to £1,999. A £999 fee spread across a two-year fix is about £42 a month — often more than the saving from the lower rate.
• Booking fee. Usually £99 to £250, sometimes bundled into the arrangement fee.
• Valuation fee. Often free on higher-fee deals, otherwise £150 to £500 depending on property value.
• Legal fees. Some deals include free conveyancing, but check whether it covers leasehold or unusual properties.
• Cashback. A £500 cashback can tip a close decision, though it rarely compensates for a genuinely worse rate.

Here is the maths in practice. On a £250,000 repayment mortgage over 25 years, a 4.5% rate costs about £1,390 a month. A 4.7% rate costs about £1,418. That is a difference of £28 a month, or £672 over two years. So a fee-free deal at 4.7% beats a 4.5% deal with a £999 fee over a two-year fix — and it beats it comfortably.

Early repayment charges and flexibility

Almost every fixed or discounted deal comes with an early repayment charge (ERC). If you move house, inherit money, or simply want to overpay, this matters. ERCs are typically 1% to 5% of the outstanding balance during the deal, often tapering — for example 5% in year one falling to 1% in year five.

Check the small print for:

• Overpayment allowance. Most lenders let you overpay 10% of the balance each year without penalty. Some allow 20%, and a few are unlimited.
• Porting. Can you take the mortgage with you if you move? It is a useful feature, but you will still need to pass affordability checks on the new loan.
• Exit fee. Usually £50 to £300 when you redeem the mortgage. Small, but it counts.
• Tie-in period. Sometimes longer than the fixed rate itself, which catches people out when remortgaging.

A simple way to compare your shortlist

Once you have three or four realistic options, stop looking at rates in isolation and run one calculation for each. Multiply the monthly payment by the number of months in the initial period, add every upfront fee, then subtract any cashback. That gives you the true cost of the deal. Next to it, write the follow-on rate and the ERC percentage.

The cheapest over the fix is not always the best overall — a slightly pricier five-year fix can beat a cheap two-year fix once you factor in remortgaging twice. But by putting the real numbers side by side, you will see the trade-offs clearly and can choose the deal that fits your plans rather than the one with the prettiest advert. Take your time, check every fee, and if anything in the paperwork is unclear, ring the lender and ask before you commit.