Mortgage rates are not expected to fall further this year, but rising wages are likely to improve affordability for buyers as house prices stay flat.
Additional borrowing
Additional borrowing is when you borrow more on your existing mortgage.
It's a common way of funding home improvements or raising a deposit to buy another property.
Explore additional borrowing options
How much could my mortgage repayments be?
Get a quick idea of how much it's going to cost each month or how a rate change could affect your monthly payments.
How can I borrow more on my mortgage?
Additional borrowing can be done in a few ways:
A further advance is when you borrow more money from your existing lender.
A second charge mortgage is when you use the equity in your home as collateral to take out a second mortgage. The loan can be taken out with your current lender, or a completely different one.
Remortgaging is when you look for a completely new mortgage deal because your current one is about to end.
Ways to borrow more on your mortgage
1: You can contact your existing lender if you're looking to secure extra borrowing through them. This can be a good route if your current mortgage deal isn't expiring soon.
2: If you're looking to remortgage completely, a mortgage broker will scour the market to find the best rates available for you.
3: You can also approach individual banks and building societies if you're looking to arrange a second charge mortgage or to remortgage completely.
Save money with Mojo Mortgages
Allow award-winning Mojo to show you the best rates available to you. A whole-of-market broker, Mojo work with over 70 lenders. And they won't charge you a penny for their services.
How a broker can help with additional borrowing
Fill in a few details
Tell Mojo about yourself and your situation so that they can get to know you, provide you with advice and ensure you’re eligible. It will take around 8 minutes.
Speak with an expert
Book a call and speak to one of Mojo's in-house mortgage experts, who will compare thousands of deals from over 70 lenders to find one suited to you.
Additional borrowing sorted
Leave it with Mojo; the paperwork, the application, the bank poking and protection insurance, they'll handle all the stress. And if you’re remortgaging, they could save you a lot of money.
Am I eligible for additional borrowing?
Only an individual lender can tell you if you're eligible for additional borrowing on your mortgage, but there are certain things that can absolutely help you along the way.
A good credit rating
Having equity in your home
You're up to date with all of your mortgage repayments
You can prove you can afford the additional repayments
Guides on additional borrowing
A complete guide to improving a home
Ready to renovate? From how to get started to those all-important finishing touches, let's get cracking.
The latest news on mortgages
Are interest rates going up or down? And what does this mean for mortgages? Get the latest.
The base rate has been cut for the first time in four years and now sits at 5%. Let's take a look at what this means for mortgages and the housing market.
27% of homeowners with a mortgage are on their lender’s standard variable rate. Could you be one of them?
First-time buyers accounted for more than half of all home loans in 2023 - and more than two-thirds teamed up to secure their own homes.
The first full week back after the new year has seen buyer interest jump out of the blocks faster than last year as mortgage rates drop. Get the latest with Richard Donnell.
95% mortgage guarantee scheme extended, 40,000 new homes to be built and Local Housing Allowance unfrozen to help renters on the lowest incomes.
Marathon mortgages, cutting pensions and raiding savings: how homeowners are coping as mortgage rates hover at their highest levels for 15 years.
42% of adults aged 18-39 who don’t own a home say they’ve given up on the idea of buying one in the next ten years, including 38% of those earning £60,000+.
As lenders withdraw some of their products, we take a look at what’s triggered the current turmoil in the mortgage market and what buyers and homeowners can do.
As the cost of borrowing increases, there are steps buyers and homeowners can take to help keep mortgage payments manageable.
The Bank of England’s latest increase adds a further £60-a-month to repayments for homeowners with a £200,000 variable mortgage.
Core inflation rose to a new 31-year high in May, suggesting the Bank of England will have to increase interest rates by more than previously expected.
Additional borrowing mortgages: frequently asked questions
Got questions? We’ve listed the ones we hear all the time.
Is it a good idea to borrow more on your mortgage?
Whenever you're borrowing against your home, there are always potential risks if you can't keep up with your mortgage repayments.
Some people may prefer to use an unsecured loan, which doesn't use your home as a guarantee.
When running two mortgages together (as is the case with a further advance or a second charge mortgage), they run concurrently but may have different end dates. This means you'll need to wait for both to finish before you can remortgage. Otherwise you may incur costly exit fees.
You'll also need to have equity in your property that you can borrow against. Different lenders have different amounts that they're prepared to lend on this front: some will go to 85% of your property's value, others less.
That said, additional borrowing remains a popular way of funding major home improvements, or freeing up cash to put towards a second property.
Only you can make the decision as to whether you can comfortably afford the repayments in the long term.
Should I remortgage for home renovations?
Additional borrowing or remortgaging is a popular way to fund home renovations.
And because you're adding value to your property, renovating is viewed favourably as a reason to remortgage by lenders.
As long as you can prove you can afford the repayments, then additional borrowing could be the answer.
Mortgages often come with lower interest rates than loans or credit cards. But it's important to remember that you could pay more interest in the long term.
The loan will also be secured against your property, which means you must ensure you can keep up the repayments, otherwise it could be at risk.
Will mortgage rates go down this year?
Buyers holding out for lower mortgage rates in 2024 may be disappointed, as they are unlikely to decline much further this year, even if inflation and the Base Rate edge lower.
Our Executive Director of Research, Richard Donnell, says: ‘Expectations of lower interest rates are already priced into fixed rate mortgages today.
‘Lower interest rates would likely result in further modest declines in mortgage rates but how far depends on how low money markets see base rates falling.
‘Economists currently expect base rates to fall to 3.5% by the end of 2025, which would imply mortgage rates remaining in and around the 4%+ range.’
How to get mortgage-ready
Organising your finances so that your credit score is a winner and outstanding debts are paid down will put you in a good position to take out a mortgage.
Knowing what to look for in a mortgage deal - and the outlook for interest rates - will help you to decide whether to get a tracker or a fixed-rate deal.
Talking to a broker could really help, especially if your situation is more complex because you’re self-employed, older or have a poor credit rating.
Find out more in 8 things to do before applying for a mortgage
What does 'loan-to-value' mean?
Loan-to-value is the amount you’re borrowing for a mortgage, expressed as a percentage of the home's value.
If you have a £20,000 deposit for a £200,000 property, your loan-to-value is 90%.
The larger your deposit (or equity), the lower your loan-to-value.
A loan-to-value of 60% or less will open up the best mortgage rates from lenders.
Find out more in Understanding loan to value
How can I be sure I've got the best deal?
The best way to know you've got the best deal for you is to:
Understand how much equity you have in your home
Know your loan-to-value mortgage ratio
Ensure your credit score is in a good place
Research the best mortgage rates from a range of lenders or ask a mortgage broker to find the best rates and deals for you.
The best way to compare mortgage rates
When looking for a new mortgage, you can scour the market and approach individual banks and building societies to find out the best mortgage rates available to you.
Or you can ask a mortgage broker to do the hard work for you.
Whole of market brokers often have access to deals that aren't readily available on the high street and they can save you a lot of time and effort.