Offers

What’s on offer.

The universe of self-cert lenders has increased greatly in recent years. Big names like Alliance & Leicester, Bank of Scotland, Bradford & Bingley, Bristol & West and Standard Life Bank as well as Chelsea, Coventry and Leeds building societies are all jostling to top the self-cert best-buy tables. The types of loans are also getting broader. You can now find good value fixed rates, discount deals and trackers on self-cert terms and rates are no longer that much higher than on traditional mortgages. The downside is that you do often need to put down bigger deposits to qualify for a self-cert deal. No lender will offer money unless you have 10 per cent of your property purchase price and most want 20 or 25 per cent for their best deals. The final piece of good news is that self-cert deals are now on offer to people re-mortgaging their existing property to raise extra cash as well as to those buying a new home.