There are lots of different types of mortgage. Some of the main ones are standard mortgages, flexible mortgages, current account mortgages, offset and all in one mortgages

For details of other mortgages, visit our other types of mortgage section.

Standard mortgages
These are the mortgages most of us still have. These mortgages can be repayment or interest only and you just make one payment a month to them.

With repayment mortgages, your payments repay both the interest owed, plus a small amount of the capital (the amount you have borrowed) until the mortgage is paid off in full.
With an interest-only mortgage, your payments cover the interest on the mortgage, but not the capital (the amount you originally borrowed). So at the end of the mortgage term, the amount of the original mortgage must be repaid. To make sure you can make this final payment, you put extra funds in investments.

Key pros and cons of standard mortgages Simpler to understand than some other types of mortgages.

Pros

These may offer a lower interest rate initially than some mortgages which have extra features, like overpayment and underpayment.
Useful if you like having your mortgage separate from other borrowings and savings you have.

Cons

You usually can't make extra payments, so you can't use a bonus or lump sum to pay off part of your mortgage.
As you can't make overpayments, or pay in lump sums over the longer term, these mortgages can be more expensive than some other types.
Once any low introductory rate ends you will have to pay the standard variable rate, which is usually one of the most expensive interest rates.

Flexible mortgages
These repayment mortgages allow you to vary your monthly repayments. Depending on the mortgage, you can:

Make bigger or smaller payments each month.
Make a lump sum payment.
Take a break from payments altogether.

You can usually do any of these without being charged a penalty fee, as long as you do not exceed a pre-agreed borrowing limit.

Key pros and cons of flexible mortgages

If your earnings change each month, you can vary your repayments. If you inherit some money, you can pay off a lump sum, or if you want to stop repayments for a while, you can often do that too.
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