These offer a rate which is guaranteed not to change during a set period of time – usually two to three years – but it is possible to fix your mortgage for ten years or longer. Watch out for early redemption penalties if you want to get out of the mortgage before the fixed period ends.

A tracker mortgage is a mortgage with a variable interest rate which tracks the Bank of England base rate. The rate you pay will be based upon a percentage above or below the base rate. The Bank of England base rate is reviewed once a month which could result in mortgage repayments fluctuating as and when the base rate is changed.

These are similar to tracker mortgages but give the certainty of the mortgage rate never going above a certain rate. You can also get a ‘cap and collar’, which means that the top rate is capped but it will never go below a certain rate even if the Bank of England base rate is very low.

These allow you to pay more off your mortgage a month or in a lump sum as and when you can. Some also allow you to take a break from payments and are more suited for people who are self-employed.

Effectively, all of your money and your loans are in one pot. When your salary comes in it reduces your mortgage so that you appear to owe less and pay less in interest charges, but you can still use the money to pay your bills.

These are similar to current account mortgages but you have a series of linked accounts. When your current and savings accounts are in credit, the money is used to offset the amount you owe on your mortgage account. So you end up paying less interest and still have access to your money.

Unlike normal repayment mortgages, you only pay off the interest accrued on your mortgage and, at the end of the mortgage term, still owe the amount borrowed. An alternative form of repayment, such as an investment, is therefore required to ensure that you can repay the mortgage at the end of the term.