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Barclays Mortgage Review: Pros, Cons & Features
Barclays offers a wide range of mortgages to home movers, first-time buyers, those wanting to remortgage or for buy-to-let purposes. Here’s our Barclays mortgage review.
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Barclays mortgages: at a glance
Barclays offers capital repayment and interest-only mortgages, as well as fixed-rate, tracker-rate and offset mortgage options. Barclays mortgages can be repaid over a term of up to 40 years. Standard fixed-rate mortgages allow overpayments of up to 10% of your outstanding mortgage balance each year.
Barclays Mortgages
5 to 40 years
£5,000
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.
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.
Barclays mortgage pros & cons
Pros
- It offers capital repayment and interest-only mortgages.
- Mortgages at 85% LTV and over are available.
- It’s one of a handful of lenders to offer offset mortgages.
- There is a low minimum loan amount of £5,000.
- There are several customer support channels to choose from.
Cons
- Other providers offer shorter minimum mortgage terms.
Barclays mortgage overview
Barclays is one of the biggest UK mortgage lenders, and it offers a variety of mortgages to those who want to move, buy their first home or are looking to remortgage. Barclays also offers buy-to-let mortgages to new landlords and those wanting to remortgage.
Barclays mortgages are available from a minimum of £5,000, and can be repaid over a term of between five and 40 years. Customer support is available over the phone, online, at Barclays branches and via the Barclays mobile app.
| Product options | Capital repayment Interest-only Fixed-rate Tracker Offset 85% loan-to-value (LTV) or higher Family/Springboard Green mortgages |
| Term length | 5 to 40 years |
| Minimum loan size | £5,000 |
| Allows overpayments | Yes |
| Mortgages are portable | Yes |
| Ways to apply | Phone, at a branch, broker |
| Customer service contact options | Online, phone, at a branch, mobile app |
| Fairer Finance customer experience rating | 58% (as at 11 November 2024) |
Where Barclays mortgages stand out
More product options than some lenders
Barclays has a wide range of available mortgages, including interest-only mortgages and fixed-rate and tracker mortgages. It is also one of the few lenders to currently offer offset mortgages, which allow you to offset the balances of your current and savings accounts against your mortgage amount. There is also the Barclays Family Springboard Mortgage, which can allow family and friends to help with a mortgage deposit, and the green mortgage, which can reward energy efficiency in your home.
Low minimum mortgage amount
If you need a fairly small mortgage, the minimum amount that Barclays allows is £5,000. Some other lenders set the minimum that they are willing to lend through a mortgage at £25,000 or even £50,000.
Potential option to underpay
Some Barclays mortgages offer the ability to underpay your mortgage, although paying less on your usual monthly repayments in this way will only be possible if you’ve previously overpaid enough to cover the underpayments.
Tim Leonard, Lead Writer and Mortgages Expert at NerdWallet
What Our Nerds Say
“Always check the terms and conditions of your mortgage policy or talk to your lender before overpaying or underpaying, in case limits or charges apply. If you want to underpay because you’re struggling financially, you should contact your lender to discuss your options as soon as possible.”
Where Barclays mortgages fall short
Entirely online applications not possible
Barclays lets you get an agreement in principle online, but, unlike some other lenders, you can’t complete the entire application process online. At some point, you will need to speak to Barclays over the phone.
Shorter minimum terms are available elsewhere
If you want a relatively short mortgage term, the minimum of five years available through a Barclays mortgage may not be short enough. Some lenders have a minimum mortgage term of one year.
» MORE: Best mortgage lenders
Take a look at some of the other mortgage providers we review.
What types of mortgages does Barclays offer?
Barclays first-time buyer mortgages
Barclays first-time buyer mortgages are available up to 95% loan-to-value (LTV), which means it may be possible to get a mortgage with a 5% deposit. Its Family Springboard Mortgage may mean you can get a mortgage without a deposit if your family or friends are happy to help.
Barclays remortgages
Barclays offers a number of remortgage options for those who want to switch away from their current lender, including deals on which there’s no application, valuation or standard legal fees to pay.
Barclays buy-to-let mortgages
You can look into buy-to-let mortgages from Barclays if you’re considering becoming a landlord for the first time, want to remortgage a buy-to-let property you already own or are a professional landlord wanting to expand your portfolio.
Barclays mortgage features
Repayment options
Barclays mortgages are available on both a capital repayment and interest-only basis. Choosing a repayment mortgage means your repayments go towards paying off both the interest you’re charged and an element of your original mortgage amount, or capital, each month. As a result, the amount you’ve borrowed decreases gradually and should be fully repaid by the end of the mortgage term.
By contrast, the repayments you make on an interest-only mortgage only cover the interest each month and won’t reduce the amount you borrowed. Monthly repayments are therefore lower, but you’ll need a repayment strategy in place for paying back the loan amount when the mortgage term ends. If you’re applying for a Barclays interest-only mortgage on your own, you must earn at least £75,000 a year to be eligible.
» MORE: Interest-only vs. repayment mortgages
Mortgage rates
Barclays offers fixed-rate and tracker-rate mortgages. With a fixed-rate mortgage, your mortgage rate is fixed for a set period of time, during which your monthly repayments won’t change.
Alternatively, taking out a Barclays tracker mortgage means the mortgage rate you pay – and your monthly repayments – could rise or fall, depending on whether the Bank of England base rate changes. Because of this, you should think carefully about the level of repayments you could comfortably afford if the base rate, and therefore your interest rate, were to rise.
» MORE: Fixed- vs. variable-rate mortgages
Loan-to-value ratios
Barclays offers mortgages up to a maximum of 95% LTV, meaning that you only need a 5% deposit to get a Barclays mortgage. However, the larger your deposit and the lower your LTV, the better the mortgage rates you’re normally able to access.
» MORE: Why your LTV is important for a mortgage
Mortgage offers
A mortgage offer from Barclays is typically valid for six months. During this time, the mortgage rate you’ve been offered should not change.
Making overpayments
Standard Barclays fixed-rate mortgages allow borrowers to overpay up to 10% of their outstanding mortgage balance each year. The allowance for tracker mortgages is 25%. However, it’s important to either contact Barclays or check the terms and conditions of your mortgage offer before doing so. This way, you can see whether your mortgage has different overpay conditions and whether any early repayment charges (ERCs) may apply. Overpaying on your mortgage may help you to pay off your mortgage earlier and pay less interest overall.
» MORE: Mortgage overpayment calculator
Paying off your mortgage early
It’s possible to pay off your mortgage early, but you’ll need to request a redemption statement from Barclays first. This will make clear everything you’d need to pay, including the mortgage balance you have left and any interest, fees and charges that will apply.
Porting your mortgage
If you’re an existing Barclays mortgage holder, you can apply to take your current mortgage with you if you’re moving to a new home. If you keep it exactly as it is and your new mortgage begins within 90 days of selling your property, you may also avoid having to pay early repayment charges.
» MORE: Porting a mortgage
Customer support
Barclays offers customer support through a number of channels, including by phone, online, by visiting your local Barclays branch or through the Barclays mobile app. You can also contact the bank through its social channels.
Mortgage calculators
The Barclays website includes a wide selection of mortgage calculators. These include calculators designed to help you work out how much you may be able to borrow, what your monthly repayments may be, and how changes in mortgage rates can affect you.
» MORE: Our mortgage calculators
Customer ratings
Barclays receives a customer experience rating of 58% from Fairer Finance for mortgages, which means it ranks joint 17th out of the 22 lenders it reviewed. The ratings take into account customer satisfaction, the trust the customer has in a brand and the lender’s approach to handling complaints. Consideration is also given to the clarity and simplicity of product explanations and the documents customers are asked to complete.
This information from Fairer Finance was correct as of 11 November 2024.
» MORE: Do you need mortgage advice?
Barclays Mortgage FAQs
Barclays will carry out a full credit check when deciding whether to make you a mortgage offer, which has the potential to affect your credit score. It’s important to try to avoid applying for loans you’re not likely to get, as being rejected may negatively affect your credit score.
Barclays says it typically takes anywhere between four and six weeks to make a decision on mortgage applications, depending on your circumstances. Getting an AiP should take around 10 minutes but does not guarantee that you will get a mortgage.
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
At NerdWallet UK, we base our reviews and our ‘Best’ pages on the results of surveys we undertook about what was important to people who use these products. This allows us to look at products impartially of any commercial arrangements we have and fairly rate the products on the same set of criteria.
Best means our ‘Best’ and is based only on what products we have aligned to our surveys, which form the basis of our reviews and ratings. This means that there will be other products on the market that we have not included in our ‘Best’ pages. Best does not mean it’s best for you, nor does it mean the ‘cheapest’.
Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
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 there will be products not included on the market. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
While we try to provide you with accurate information, the providers can change the terms of their products at any time, therefore it is advisable to check the terms before you proceed.
You can view our full review methodology here.