Mortgage Deals Online

Finding the right mortgage for you is just a click away. David Emery picks the best sites.

The hardest part about finding a mortgage is the weight of choice. There are currently over 4000 mortgage and remortgage deals on offer from about 150 lenders, and pinpointing a bargain entails more than just settling for the lowest APR. Low interest rates may disguise up-front fees, redemption penalties and compulsory add-ons.

Searching on individual lender sites is very inefficient. A better strategy is to use the search tools on independent sites to draw up shortlists of suitable products.

Search results are usually presented in a table, typically displaying initial interest rate, APR, monthly cost, total cost over a given period, redemption penalties and compulsory insurances. Some sites can sort results by several criteria, allowing products to be ranked according to personal priorities.

Independent Mortgage sites

E-Loan (www.eloan.com)
A smart and nippy site providing access to products from around 50 lenders. Search results can be ranked by monthly payment, payable interest rate, standard rate, APR or lender's fees. You can compare any pair of mortgage products by terms, mortgage payment, mortgage interest and early redemption penalty over periods up to 10 years.

NetMortgage (www.netmortgage.co.uk)
The online arm of Savills Private Finance, displaying mortgage data from some120 lenders. Search for variable, fixed, capped and discounted rate, cashback, tracker, flexible and buy-to-let mortgages. Results are ranked by initial interest rate only with multiple criteria ranking pending.

Moneygator (www.moneygator.com)
An independent website for searching out mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. You can search for variable, capped, discounted variable and fixed rate, cashback, flexible and self-certified mortgages. Results are anonymous but can be ranked by initial interest rate, offer term, standard variable rate, cashback, tie-in period or flexible payment. Lenders' identities are disclosed when you apply for up to two products displayed.

Charcol Online (www.charcolonline.co.uk)
The website of John Charcol, a leading independent mortgage advisor, displaying discounted, fixed and capped rate, tracker, buy-to-let, self-certified, impaired credit, 100% and flexible mortgages from about 50 lenders. Search results can be ranked by APR, monthly payments, redemption costs and total cost over 3, 5, and 7 years.

Money Supermarket (www.moneysupermarket.co.uk)
The creation of Mortgage 2000, a provider of mortgage and loan comparison software to Independent Financial Advisers. An eight-step search process filters out variable, fixed, capped & discounted rate, flexible and cashback mortgages. The results table ranks products by true cost only over any selected period.

MoneyeXtra (www.moneyextra.com)
MoneyeXtra Mortgages has absorbed Emfinance, its former mortgage trading arm. You can now search for variable, fixed, capped and discounted variable rate, cashback, buy-to-let, self-certified, impaired credit history and euro mortgages. Results are ordered by payable interest rate only with ranking by multiple criteria pending.

MoneyNet (www.moneynet.co.uk)
A general financial information site, with acknowledged expertise in mortgages, loans, credit cards and savings data. Search by mortgage type or by specified lender. Results can be displayed in ascending order of initial interest rate, descending order of cashback or ascending order of total cost based on an interest-only mortgage scenario.

Virgin Money (www.virginmoney.co.uk)
The new kid on the block for mortgages, unit trusts and ISAs. Claims to be capable of quoting across the whole mortgage market. You can only 'register an interest' with eight 'e-ssociate' lenders who meet Virgin's exacting standards. Ironically, non-'e-ssociate' lenders seem to offer the best terms. Thus are the righteous rewarded.

For read reviews of these sites in full, click here.