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Halifax Mortgage Review
Halifax offers a wide range of mortgages to first-time buyers, homemovers and those who are remortgaging. Here’s our Halifax mortgage review.
Halifax mortgages: at a glance
Halifax offers capital repayment and interest-only mortgages, and a range of options which usually include fixed-rate mortgages, and sometimes tracker mortgages. Mortgages can be arranged for a term of up to 40 years, and applied for over the phone, online and in person at a branch of Halifax.
Halifax Mortgages
2 to 40 years
£25,000
Capital & Interest; and Interest Only
Yes
Yes
This mortgage provider is available via our partner, London & Country Mortgages.
Think carefully before taking out any mortgage. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments.
The information in this review is correct as at the date the page was last updated. This is our review of a lender and not the products, interest rates, fees or deal terms they offer. Many lenders also offer preferential products exclusively via brokers and intermediaries. This review does not constitute advice or recommendation.
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Take a look at some of the other mortgage providers we review.
What types of mortgages does Halifax offer?
Halifax first-time buyer mortgages
Halifax first-time buyer mortgages are typically available up to 95% loan-to-value (LTV), meaning you may be able to get a mortgage with a 5% deposit. It may also be possible to get a mortgage with no deposit at all, if your family is willing to help.
Halifax remortgages
Halifax offers a range of remortgage options. Your valuation fee and some of your basic legal fees may be covered if you switch to Halifax.
» MORE: Compare remortgage deals
Halifax buy-to-let mortgages
Halifax buy-to-let mortgages are available for new landlords and those who are looking to remortgage their buy-to-let property.
» MORE: Best mortgage lenders
Halifax mortgage features
Repayment options
Halifax offers mortgages on a capital repayment and interest-only basis, and also potentially as a combination of both. With a repayment mortgage, the monthly repayments you make pay off your interest and some of your original loan amount, or capital. If you make all of your repayments on time and in full, then everything should be paid off at the end of your mortgage term.
Interest-only mortgages work differently because your repayments only cover the interest that you’re charged each month and won’t pay off any of your original mortgage loan amount. This can help keep repayments low but also means you must have a repayment strategy in place to provide a lump sum to pay off the full loan amount when your mortgage term ends.
» MORE: Interest-only vs. repayment mortgages
Mortgage rates
Halifax offers fixed-rate mortgages, where your mortgage rate is fixed for a certain length of time. This means your monthly repayments stay the same until the end of the fixed-rate deal, at which point you can either remortgage or automatically move onto Halifax’s standard variable rate (SVR) – this can rise or fall, taking your monthly repayments with it, and is usually higher than the fixed rate you’ve just left behind.
The mortgage rate you pay, and therefore your monthly repayments, can also increase and decrease if you take out a tracker mortgage. This type of mortgage tracks movements in the Bank of England base rate, so it’s vital to think about whether your monthly repayments would still be affordable if rates were to increase. Halifax sometimes offers tracker mortgages and sometimes doesn’t.
» MORE: See best mortgage rates
Loan-to-value ratios
Halifax mortgages are typically available up to 95% LTV, which means you may be able to get a Halifax mortgage with a 5% deposit.
» MORE: Why your LTV is important for a mortgage
Mortgage offers
If you apply for a Halifax mortgage and you receive a mortgage offer, the offer could be valid for six months. The mortgage rate you’ve been offered shouldn’t change throughout this period, no matter what may be happening generally to mortgage rates.
Making overpayments
Some Halifax mortgages may allow unlimited overpayments without incurring a charge (so long as you don’t completely pay it all off), while others may limit overpayments to 10% of your outstanding balance each year before an early repayment charge applies. Always check the terms and conditions of your mortgage before paying extra. If you’re able to overpay on your mortgage, it may mean you can clear your mortgage debt faster and end up paying a lower amount of interest in total.
» MORE: Mortgage overpayment calculator
Paying off your mortgage early
You are allowed to pay off a Halifax mortgage early, but early repayment charges are likely to apply. If you want to pay off your mortgage early in full, you’ll need to ask Halifax for a redemption statement, which will show all of the charges and fees you may need to pay.
Porting your mortgage
If you want to move to a new home and take your existing Halifax mortgage and mortgage rate with you to the new property, this may be possible if your Halifax mortgage is portable. Check your mortgage offer letter or contact Halifax to find out for sure. Early repayment charges may have to be paid if you want to port a mortgage but borrow less.
Mortgage calculators
The Halifax website hosts a large number of mortgage calculators designed to help you in your mortgage search. These include mortgage affordability, repayment, rate change and overpayment calculators. There are also others to suit the type of borrower you are, such as a first-time buyer, a homemover, someone who is remortgaging or a landlord wanting a buy-to-let mortgage.
» MORE: Our mortgage calculators
This is our review of a lender and not the products, interest rates, fees or deal terms they offer. Many lenders also offer preferential products exclusively via brokers and intermediaries. This review does not constitute advice or recommendation.
Review methodology
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible, but it is likely there are others available that we have not reviewed. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
You can view our full review methodology here.
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