Mail Online mortgage case studies

We have looked at the tracker rates and wondered whether we should be fixing some of our mortgages on a tracker. Then you look at the lender's stress tests on these products and you think, 'Well you must be joking'.

While selecting a tracker product, remember the flexibility and benefits that trackers offer of a declining interest rate regime (which a lot of analysts predict will come through next year) is counteracted by the atrocious stress test rates of 9-10% that will apply to these mortgages.

Trackers by their very nature are not fixed at a specific interest rate, and therefore banks have to be more cautious in lending if interest rates climb upwards. That is why most lenders would apply a very high stress test before lending you the money. What that means is that the total borrowing is going to be lower than what you could have got on say, a 5-year fixed-rate product.

So choose wisely - do you want to play the interest rate roulette, or maximise your borrowing on a property?