Everyone shows you the rate. Nobody shows you the rest of it.
Mortgage guides for people buying their first home in the UK. We don’t sell products, no lender pays us, and every figure comes with the date we checked it.
Checked 28 October 2026. Source: Bank of England (quoted household interest rates, IADB). Next Bank of England decision Thursday 5 November 2026. Averages at 75% loan-to-value — the rate you’re offered will differ.
The gap between the headline and the number you’ll live with
The average two-year fix at 75% loan to value. The headline rate, before any fee.
Add a £999 arrangement fee to a £150,000 loan. Spread over the two years, it costs £500 a year, another 0.33 points on the rate. On a smaller loan the fee weighs more, which is why a fee-free deal can cost less than a lower headline rate.
Worked example. The rate is the Bank of England (quoted household interest rates, IADB) average, checked 28 October 2026. The fee and loan size are illustrations, not a quoted product. Simplified: it ignores interest on any fee added to the loan.
Start with a question
Ordered by when you’re likely to hit them, not by how often they’re searched.
- How much can I actually borrow?
- Why is the lender testing me at a higher rate than I'll pay?
- Does my student loan affect what I can borrow?
- Should I be using a Lifetime ISA?
- Broker or straight to the bank?
- Two-year fix or five-year fix?
- What do I need on top of the deposit?
- My parents are helping. Does that change anything?
- Is a 5% deposit a trap?
- We're buying together but we're not married. What protects us?
Free money most first-time buyers leave behind
“Open a Lifetime ISA.”
Save up to £4,000 a year, get a 25% government bonus on top. Roughly 17% of first-time buyers actually use one, and those who do buy around three years earlier than everyone else.
The £450,000 line.
Buy above it and you lose the bonus plus a withdrawal charge. Stamp duty relief for first-time buyers runs to £500,000, so in London and the South East you can be saving into a product you’ll be penalised for using. A replacement scheme is due around April 2028.