You can afford a better home than you think

Habito One is open to first time buyers, home movers, and remortgagers in England and Wales.

If you have a 10% deposit, you’re more than welcome. The property price range is £50,000 to £10 million.

We’re also hoping to bring out a deal for 5% deposits soon – watch this space.

Eligibility criteria for borrowing 7x your income.

7x borrowing depends on your job and income, as well as the general criteria for Habito One above.

You’ll need to earn at least £25,000 if you work in any of these jobs: firefighter, nurse, paramedic, doctor, police, accountant, barrister, teacher, engineer, lawyer, dentist, architect, surveyor or vet. (You can see a detailed list of eligible jobs in the question below.)

If you don’t work in these jobs, you’ll need to earn £75,000 or more to be eligible for 7x borrowing.

7x borrowing and joint applications.

If one of you is eligible for 7x borrowing, and the other isn't, we'll multiply the eligible income by up to 7x, and the other income by up to 5x, to get your maximum borrowing amount.

If both of you are eligible for 7x borrowing, we'll multiply the higher income by 7x, and the lower by 5x, to get your maximum borrowing amount.

If, for whatever reason, it works out financially better for you to both borrow 5x your income, we'll do that for you instead.

We’d love to offer 7 times borrowing to everyone, but right now, only a limited list of jobs are eligible. We’ve grouped them into categories so you can find your job title more easily:

Police and firefighting

Chief superintendent (police service), CID officer, Detective inspector, Police inspector, Detective (police service), Police constable, Police officer, Sergeant, Transport police officer, Civilian support officer (police service), Community support officer (police service), Police community support officer, Firefighter, Fire engineer, Fire safety officer, Watch manager (fire service)

Medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine

Delivery suite manager, Midwife, Midwifery manager, Community care nurse, District nurse, Health visitor, Practice nurse, Advanced primary care nurse, Intensive care nurse, Clinical nurse specialist, Theatre manager (hospital service), Health care practitioner, Mental health practitioner, Operating theatre practitioner, Practitioner (nursing), Community mental health nurse, Psychiatric nurse, Community children’s nurse, Neonatal nurse, Paediatric nurse, School nurse, Clinical lead nurse, Matron (care/residential home), Nurse, Occupational health nurse, Staff nurse, Team leader (nursing), Ward manager, Ambulance paramedic, Emergency care practitioner, Paramedic, Paramedic-ECP, Doctor, General practitioner, House officer (hospital service), Medical practitioner, Physician, Anaesthetist, Consultant (hospital service), Homeopath (medically qualified), Medical acupuncturist, Paediatrician, Psychiatrist, Radiologist, Surgeon, Dental surgeon, Dentist, Orthodontist, Periodontist, Veterinarian

Accounting and legal

Accountant (qualified), Auditor (qualified), Chartered accountant, Company accountant, Cost accountant (qualified), Financial controller (qualified), Management accountant (qualified), Barrister, Lawyer, Managing clerk (qualified solicitor), Solicitor, Solicitor-partner, Solicitor to the council

Education

FE College lecturer, Lecturer (further education), Teacher (further education), Tutor (further education), Curriculum leader (secondary school), Deputy head teacher (secondary school), Head of year (secondary school), Secondary school teacher, Sixth form teacher, Teacher (secondary school), Deputy head teacher (primary school), Infant teacher, Junior school teacher, Primary school teacher, Behaviour support teacher, Deputy head teacher (special school), Learning support teacher, Special educational needs coordinator, Special needs teacher, Head master (secondary school), Head teacher (primary school), Principal (further education), Rector (university), Fellow (university), Lecturer (higher education, university), Professor (higher education, university), Tutor (higher education, university), University lecturer, University teaching assistant, Kindergarten teacher (professional), Nursery school teacher, Preschool teacher

Engineering

Building engineer, Civil engineer (professional), Highways engineer, Petroleum engineer, Public health engineer, Site engineer (building construction), Structural engineer, Automotive engineer (professional), Design engineer (mechanical), Marine engineer (professional), Mechanical engineer (professional), Electrical design engineer, Electrical engineer (professional), Electrical surveyor, Equipment engineer, Power engineer, Signal engineer (professional, railways), Broadcasting engineer (professional), Electronics designer, Electronics engineer (professional), Microwave engineer, Chemical engineer, Industrial engineer, Pharmaceutical engineer, Process engineer, Production consultant, Production engineer, Aeronautical engineer (professional), Aerospace engineer, Aircraft designer, Avionics engineer, Contracts manager (manufacturing), Project engineer, Project manager (manufacturing), Acoustician (professional), Metallurgist, Scientific consultant, Technical engineer, Traffic engineer, Environmental engineer, Aeronautical engineer

Architecture and surveying

Chartered architect, Landscape architect, Quantity surveyor, Survey technician, Surveyor (quantity surveying), Building surveyor, Chartered surveyor, Hydrographic surveyor, Land surveyor, Topographer

Your rate will depend on two things: your loan to value (LTV) and the length of your mortgage term.

LTV is the size of your mortgage as a percent of the property value. So if you’re buying with a 10% deposit, that’s a 90% LTV. If you’ve paid off 40% of your mortgage on your current home, that’s a 60% LTV.

As you pay off more of your mortgage, you can switch down to a lower interest rate with Habito One. There might be a fee to do this.

Here’s a breakdown of interest rates for Habito One, without early repayment charges:

1. 40% deposit or 60% LTV
   1. Mortgage term 10–15 years: 4.89%
   2. Mortgage term 16–20 years: 5.04%
   3. Mortgage term 21–25 years: 5.19%
   4. Mortgage term 26–30 years: 5.24%
   5. Mortgage term 31–35 years: 5.44%
   6. Mortgage term 36–40 years: 5.64%‍
2. 25% deposit or 75% LTV
   1. Mortgage term 10–15 years: 5.19%
   2. Mortgage term 16–20 years: 5.24%
   3. Mortgage term 21–25 years: 5.29%
   4. Mortgage term 26–30 years: 5.34%
   5. Mortgage term 31–35 years: 5.54%
   6. Mortgage term 36–40 years: 5.74%‍
3. 20% deposit or 80% LTV
   1. Mortgage term 10–15 years: 5.49%
   2. Mortgage term 16–20 years: 5.54%
   3. Mortgage term 21–25 years: 5.59%
   4. Mortgage term 26–30 years: 5.64%
   5. Mortgage term 31–35 years: 5.84%
   6. Mortgage term 36–40 years: 6.04%‍
4. 15% deposit or 85% LTV
   1. Mortgage term 10–15 years: 5.79%
   2. Mortgage term 16–20 years: 5.84%
   3. Mortgage term 21–25 years: 5.89%
   4. Mortgage term 26–30 years: 5.94%
   5. Mortgage term 31–35 years: 6.14%
   6. Mortgage term 36–40 years: 6.34%‍
5. 10% deposit or 90% LTV
   1. Mortgage term 10–15 years: 6.29%
   2. Mortgage term 16–20 years: 6.34%
   3. Mortgage term 21–25 years: 6.39%
   4. Mortgage term 26–30 years: 6.44%
   5. Mortgage term 31–35 years: 6.64%
   6. Mortgage term 36–40 years: 6.84%‍

Don’t need to overpay, or don’t mind having an early repayment charge? We have another mortgage in the Habito One range: Habito One with ERCs (which comes with lower interest rates).

These rates are effective from 14 April 2022. Rates are subject to change and withdrawal at short notice.

It’s because the longer you fix, the longer you get certainty for, and so the slightly more you pay for that certainty. Our rates are a little higher than the cheapest 5 year fixed rate mortgages from other lenders – just like those 5 year fixes are more expensive than 2 year fixes.

Where this Habito One mortgage is different from other fixed rates is the amount of flexibility you get. You can leave your Habito One mortgage at any time, without having to pay an exit fee. And where most mortgages only let you overpay by up to 10%, you can pay as much towards your Habito One mortgage as you want – think raises, promotions, and inheritance – without a penalty. So if you’re lucky enough to be able to get yourself mortgage-free a bit sooner than you thought, you’ll always have the freedom to do it.

If interest rates rise, with Habito One you’ll be likely to save money over the life of your mortgage compared to switching between 2 or 5 year fixed rates. That’s because your monthly payments will never rise even if other mortgage interest rates do. You also won’t have to pay remortgaging costs every time you switch, which are usually around £1,000 a pop.

Don’t need to overpay, or don’t mind having an early repayment charge? We have another mortgage in the Habito One range: Habito One with ERCs (which comes with lower interest rates).

You can move home whenever you like with a Habito One mortgage. You’ll have a couple of options when you do:

• Take your Habito One mortgage with you.

  Also known as “porting”. You’ll have to pay a valuation fee on the new property, £350. That’s so we can check the new place is worth what we’re lending you on your mortgage. We’ll also do some other checks on the property to make sure we’re happy to lend you a mortgage for it. There’ll also be some legal costs to pay your conveyancer.

  If you’re not borrowing any more money, you won’t have to pay us any other fees. If you’d like to borrow more, for example if your new home is more expensive, you’ll also pay a product fee of £1,995.

• Pay off your whole mortgage when you sell.

  Because there’s no early repayment charge with this Habito One mortgage, you can pay off your whole mortgage at once when you sell, and get a new mortgage with your new home (Habito One or otherwise).

  If you choose to get Habito One again, you’ll need to pay valuation and product fees. Separately, you’ll also have to pay legal costs to your conveyancer.

  This second option won’t apply to the other mortgage in the Habito One range, because it does come with ERCs. But you can still port any Habito mortgage.

There are a few ways this mortgage can save you money. Note that this applies to our original Habito One mortgage – but we have another mortgage in the range that doesn’t have all these benefits but does have lower interest rates: Habito One with ERCs.

• You’ll save on the costs of moving home.

  Moving home is stressful and expensive – costing UK homeowners £1,181 on average each time. Because Habito One lets you borrow up to 7 times your income, you’ll be able to jump ahead a few steps on the housing ladder – buying your ideal home sooner, and not having to compromise on the location you want.

• If interest rates rise, you won’t be affected.

  Interest rates can go up and down over the years. They used to be much higher. In 2007, the average fixed mortgage interest rate was 5.84%. At the start of the 1990s, the average was just under 14%. Right now, rates are the lowest they’ve been in decades. So you can use Habito One to secure a lower rate now, that’s guaranteed for the whole mortgage, all while knowing you have the flexibility to leave whenever if you find something you like better.

• You’ll save on the costs of switching.

  Changing mortgage deals is like getting a whole new mortgage – same paperwork, admin, and fees. We near-universally hear from people that having to remortgage every 2 or 5 years feels unnecessary and stressful. And it costs around £1,000 each time. With Habito One you can avoid not just the headaches, but the costs of switching too – costs that really add up over your whole term.

• You could become mortgage-free sooner.

  Habito One lets you overpay as much as you want, whenever you want, for the entirety of your mortgage – no early repayment charges, no catches. That means you can put things like bonuses and inheritance towards your mortgage and pay it off sooner. There’s no better way to save money on your mortgage than by getting rid of it early.

Here are the fees for a Habito One mortgage:

• Product fee: £1,995. A little higher than most mortgages, idea being you’ll only ever need to pay a product fee once – rather than every couple of years to switch between short term fixes.
• Electronic transfer fee: £35. This is what it costs us to transfer your mortgage money.
• Valuation fee: £350 for a purchase, free for a remortgage. This is so we can check the value of your property matches what we’re lending on your mortgage.
• Early repayment charge: None. That means you can overpay as much as you want.
• Exit fee: None. So you can leave if you find another mortgage you like better.

Fees for other mortgages in the Habito One range.

• Habito One with ERCs: the fees are the same as above, apart from the early repayment charge which is 5% for the first 10 years (with no ERC after that).