Top mortgages compared

About Top mortgages compared

Comparing 696 mortgage providers comes down to what a loan costs year after year, how much of the property you can borrow against, and how long the rate stays fixed. Our wider data shows initial rates of 0.6% to 28% and annual percentage rates of 1.88% to 64.4%, while the middle of this ranking sits at an initial rate of 4.49% and an annual percentage rate of 4.91%. The main trade-off runs straight through the list. Lenders that fix a low rate for many years, or lend close to the full value of a home, either charge a product fee or cap the loan at a modest share of the property, because cheap money and a small deposit are rarely offered together. Where a provider also offers phone support and a help centre, an application is easier to move forward when valuations or paperwork go sideways. That mix of cost, offer and trust sets the order below.

How we picked

Every brand here is scored on three measures: cost of borrowing, the breadth of the offer, and trust. Cost carries a weight of 35%, the offer is weighted at 25% and trust at 40%, so a cheap rate cannot carry a weak offer or an unclear setup on its own. Trust carries the heaviest weight because a mortgage is a long commitment tied to a person's home, and every year of cost matters. Figures come from each provider's own published terms, rate examples and legal notices, and only values stated there are used. Partners are listed first, ahead of the rest, and the order that follows is the score order rather than the order in which products are marketed. This ranking covers 696 brands, and the reference points used below come from the same set.

Our top picks

1. 1. Sofkredit

   Sofkredit is in this ranking for the range of fixes on offer, 0.5 to 20, so a borrower can match the rate to how long they plan to hold the property. The lender is Kova Finance, S.L., based in ES, and support runs on email, phone and help centre. Cost is what holds it below the member above: the product fee is €900 to €1,350, the annual percentage rate runs 10.74% to 18.06% and the initial rate starts at 8% to 14%, against a product fee of €0 at Creduma ES. Borrowing is capped at 30% of the property value, and the stated purposes are home equity and remortgage.

   • APR: 10.74% to 18.06%
   • Loan amount: €12,000 to €300,000
   • Term: 6 to 240 months

   Pros

   • Sofkredit's own service costs nothing, so the only charge to weigh is the lender's arrangement fee of 6% to 9%.
   • The loan range €12,000 to €300,000 and the term range 6 to 240 suit both renovation projects and debt consolidation.
   • Eligibility leans towards weaker files, with the credit needed listed as poor, and the credit check is soft prequal.
   • The range 0.5 to 20 lets a borrower fix the rate for a short stretch or a long one.
   • Same day funding is listed as same day funding once the notary signs.

   Cons

   • The arrangement fee of 6% to 9% is a large share of the loan, and the product fee on a small mortgage guaranteed loan runs €900 to €1,350.
   • Maximum loan to value is 30%, well below the 90% across listed lenders, so equity of your own is required.
   • Sofkredit is a broker, so the contract sits with the collaborating lender rather than the site you apply through.
   • Support runs on email, phone and help centre, with no chat or community channel listed.

2. 5. Prestalo

   Prestalo is in this ranking for a low cost of borrowing held for longer: an annual percentage rate of 2.97% on an initial rate of 2.36%, a product fee of €0 and a fix of 25 years, the longest stated period among the Spanish members here. The lender is PRESTALO ONLINE, S.L., founded in 2018 in ES, and support covers email, chat and phone. The limit is the deposit, since loans go to 80% of the value, under the 90% typical of this ranking. Creditilia ES, ranked just above, fixes its rate for 5 years only, so a borrower chasing stability stays better here.

   • APR: 4.1% to 30%
   • Loan amount: €500 to €100,000
   • Term: 1 to 120 months

   Pros

   • Personal loan APR runs 4.1% to 30% with arrangement fee 0 EUR, so the headline cost is the interest and nothing else.
   • Free early repayment means clearing the balance early costs nothing, which suits anyone whose income may rise.
   • Rate type is fixed and the model is fixed rate, so the monthly payment does not move when base rates shift.
   • Loan amount €500 to €100,000 and term 1 to 120 cover small bridging sums and long borrowing alike.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone, so help is available by phone, chat and email as well as a help centre.

   Cons

   • Credit check is hard and the credit needed is good, which rules out anyone with a thin or damaged credit file.
   • Lender kind is broker, so the lender you end up with is chosen by a third party rather than by you.
   • APR of 4.1% to 30% spans from below the personal loan median of 12% to well above it, so the rate you are offered depends heavily on your file.
   • Support runs on email, chat and phone only, so anyone who prefers to deal with a branch in person has no option here.

What to look for

The annual percentage rate, not the headline rate

The clearest number to compare is the annual percentage rate, which folds fees into the cost. Across this ranking the middle is 4.91%, with 3.87% at the lower quartile and 6.79% at the upper. An attractive initial rate can sit well above the annual percentage rate once arrangement fees are counted in.

How long the rate is fixed

A short fix means meeting the rate table again sooner. The typical fixed period in this ranking runs 10 years, from 3 at the lower end to 20 at the upper, so match the fix to how long you plan to keep the home.

How much deposit you need

The maximum loan-to-value sets the deposit. The middle lender in this ranking goes to 90% of a property, with 80% at the lower quartile and 95% at the upper, and the lenders near the front usually price that flexibility into a fee.

Reaching someone during the application

Valuation and paperwork questions come up mid-application, so phone support earns its place. Phone lines are offered by 90.1% of lenders in this ranking, against 68.4% for email, 71.7% with a help centre and 30.4% with live chat.

What the credit check leaves behind

A hard search is visible to other lenders. 78.2% of the lenders in this ranking use one, 19.3% use a soft prequalification and 2.5% use none, so compare on offers that do not damage your record.

What the loan is for

Purchase and remortgage dominate this ranking at 94.5% and 79%. First-time buyer lending reaches 31.8% and home equity 24.4%, so a provider that writes a single purpose is the narrower fit.

Frequently asked questions

Top mortgages compared by country

• Australia
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• China
• Colombia
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Poland
• Portugal
• South Africa
• Spain
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• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV