With a tracker mortgage, the rate of interest is linked to a specified index, usually the Bank of England’s (BoE) base rate of interest. Whenever the base rate changes, so does the tracker’s interest rate and therefore the borrower’s monthly repayment. Tracker mortgages are a type of ‘variable rate’ mortgages.
When interest rates are low, the borrower’s monthly repayment might be less than it would be on a different type of mortgage, such as a fixed-rate or standard variable rate mortgage. But when interest rates are high, the reverse is true. And as the rate is likely to vary, the borrower can never be sure exactly when or whether their monthly repayment may change.
Although the rate of interest on a tracker mortgage is linked to the Bank of England’s base rate, the actual interest rate charged on the mortgage will be determined by the lender and will usually be higher than the base rate due to the inclusion of the ‘margin’. The interest rate can be calculated as the ‘Base rate’ + ‘margin’. If the base rate is 2%, and the margin is 2%, the interest rate on a tracker mortgage will be 4%. If the base rate increases to 2.5%, the rate of interest will be 4.5% (2.5% base rates plus 2% ‘Margin’).
It is important to note that most ‘tracker’ rate mortgages have a minimum rate that will apply to the loan. For example, the mortgage may have a minimum rate of 3% so even if the base rate went below 1% (with a 2% margin) the mortgage rate wouldn’t decrease below 3%.
Although some tracker mortgages run for the life of the loan, most last for less than that — between one year and 5 years is not untypical. Once the tracker arrangement finishes, most lenders will switch the mortgage to a standard variable rate of interest.
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Andrea - mid 50s
I came to see Josh not only helping me plan for my retirement but also in helping me look after a Trust fund for my Nieces. Josh is always quick to respond to queries and deals with all requests in a timely and efficient manner. I feel very comfortable in the fact that if I ask for something to be done or need some advice he ALWAYS delivers.
I have not always had this service from other financial advisors. I would happily recommend Josh to anyone needing financial support.
Trevor
Following our mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and admission into a residential care home, my sister and I were looking for financial advice on the options available to fund her care. Our main concern before speaking with Josh was finding an adviser who would provide us with sound financial advice.
Josh provided us with various funding options relating to our mother's residential care provision. These options gave my sister and I the information we needed to determine the best way forward in respect of funding our mother's care needs. Josh provided clear, concise, and timely financial advice, and responses to all our questions were swift, friendly, and easy to understand. He also went out of his way to secure an immediate needs care annuity within the timescales required to meet my mother's urgent funding needs.
My sister and I received excellent support from Warwick Road Financial Services and believe that, without Josh's assistance, we would have struggled to achieve a successful outcome.
My sister and I have a cautious approach when it comes to making major financial decisions. We believe the approach used, and the advice offered by Warwick Road Financial Services, would be of benefit to people who, like us, have a cautious approach when it comes to financial matters.
Darren
I approached Jethro several years ago because my wife and I really hadn’t paid any attention to our pension planning. Jethro helped us by identifying various plans from previous employers, and a personal plan that I’d left to stagnate from my contracting days.
The result was that Jethro managed to consolidate all these into single managed portfolios for each of us. One thing we really liked was his clear explanation, regular communication, and friendly but professional approach. He explained things to us in language we could both understand. We found the experience very easy to navigate thanks to Jethro’s detailed and clear explanation and guidance.
We would recommend Jethro to people who need a full-service pension professional to guide them clearly and safely through their options and manage the entire process for them.
Miss Parker
I instructed Claire Adams from Warwick Road Financial services to assist me with consolidating my various pensions into one with Quilter.
Claire took care of everything on my behalf and kept me updated at all times. Clare was extremely professional, efficient and explained everything in great detail.
As I was so impressed I also took out life cover, which again Claire found the best deal and it was set up almost instantly.
I would highly recommend Claire to future clients, friends and family as I know they will receive a first-class Service.
Steve
We originally approached Lawrence because we were looking for help with our insurance/mortgage and general finances, whilst in our early 20’s.
Before we had met you, we were concerned about obtaining financial advice from somebody who we didn’t know or wasn’t recommended, due to a family members previous bad experience.
Lawrence helped us by putting us at ease, explaining everything in layman’s terms, so that we understood the advice and were always given opportunities to wait, delay or decline any plans that were offered.
As a result, almost 30 years later we still see Lawrence at least once per year to discuss our current situation and our plans. We are in an excellent position financially regarding our mortgage, savings and pensions, largely thanks to Lawrence.
One thing I really like is the trustworthy and friendly attitude he has always shown towards us.
I found the experience very comforting, knowing that our finances were being taken care of by a professional and that our long-term plans were reachable.
The sort of person that would benefit most from using them would be a young couple, starting out in their careers, as we were when we first met Lawrence.