UK Mortgage Rates 2026: What to Expect and How to Compare
A plain-English guide to mortgage rates in the UK: what drives them, fixed vs tracker deals, a worked example of monthly…
This mortgage calculator works out your monthly repayments and the total cost of your home loan from four figures: the property price, your deposit, the interest rate and the term. It is built for UK buyers and homeowners - first-time buyers comparing deals, movers checking a new mortgage, and anyone remortgaging onto a fresh rate.
Enter your numbers and you will see the monthly payment, the total interest you will pay over the life of the loan, and how the balance falls year by year. No sign-up, no personal details - just the maths.
Monthly payment
on a mortgage over years
Overpaying saves you
interest saved
sooner
Estimate only. Lender rates, fees and affordability checks vary.
| Year | Interest | Principal | Balance left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scenario | Monthly | Total interest | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Type the property price, your deposit, the interest rate your lender is offering and the term in years into the tool above. It instantly returns your monthly mortgage payment, the total amount repaid and the total interest - so you can compare two deals side by side before you commit.
A standard UK residential mortgage is a repayment (capital and interest) loan. Every month you pay back a slice of the amount you borrowed plus the interest charged on the balance that is still outstanding. Early on, most of your payment is interest; as the balance shrinks, more of each payment chips away at the capital. That is why the loan barely moves in the first few years and then accelerates near the end.
The amount you actually borrow is the property price minus your deposit:
Loan amount = Property price − Deposit
The monthly payment then comes from the standard amortisation formula:
M = P × [ r × (1 + r)n ] ÷ [ (1 + r)n − 1 ]
The three levers that move your payment are the size of the loan, the interest rate and the term. A bigger deposit shrinks P. A lower rate shrinks r. A longer term raises n, which cuts the monthly figure but increases the total interest, because you owe money for longer. Your loan-to-value ratio - the loan as a percentage of the property price - also decides which interest rates you qualify for: the more you put down, the cheaper the rate banks tend to offer.
Priya and Tom are buying their first home for £280,000 with a £42,000 deposit (15%). They are offered a five-year fixed rate of 4.5% over a 25-year term.
Step 1 - the loan: £280,000 − £42,000 = £238,000 borrowed.
Step 2 - the inputs: r = 0.045 ÷ 12 = 0.00375, and n = 25 × 12 = 300 payments.
Step 3 - the formula: putting those into M = P × [r(1+r)n] ÷ [(1+r)n − 1] gives a monthly payment of about £1,323.
Over the full 25 years they would pay roughly £1,323 × 300 = £396,800, of which about £158,800 is interest on top of the £238,000 they borrowed. Seeing the interest written out as a single number is sobering, but it is exactly why the rate and term matter so much.
Keep the same £238,000 loan and watch what happens when you change one lever at a time.
Stretch the term to 30 years. The monthly payment falls to about £1,206 - roughly £117 a month cheaper. But you pay for an extra five years, so total interest climbs to around £196,100. That longer term costs about £37,000 more in interest for the breathing room of a lower monthly bill.
The rate rises by one percentage point (4.5% to 5.5%, 25-year term). The monthly payment jumps from about £1,323 to roughly £1,462 - about £139 a month more, or close to £1,700 a year. This is why locking a competitive rate, and overpaying when you can, makes such a difference. Our mortgage overpayment calculator shows how even £100 a month can knock years off the term.
| Scenario (£238,000 loan) | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5% over 25 years | £1,323 | £158,800 |
| 4.5% over 30 years | £1,206 | £196,100 |
| 5.5% over 25 years | £1,462 | £200,500 |
Figures are rounded estimates to show the direction of travel; your lender's exact illustration may differ by a few pounds.
Your monthly mortgage payment is only part of the picture. Before you decide what you can afford, budget for:
To sense-check how much a lender might actually offer you, use the mortgage affordability calculator or the how much can I borrow calculator, which weigh your income and outgoings rather than just the property price.
Repayment vs interest-only. This tool assumes a repayment mortgage, where you clear the whole balance by the end. On an interest-only mortgage your monthly cost is lower because you only pay the interest - but the full capital is still owed at the end and you need a credible plan to repay it. Most residential lenders only offer interest-only in limited cases; it is more common for buy-to-let.
The end of your fixed period. When a two- or five-year fix ends you usually roll onto the lender's standard variable rate (SVR), which is typically much higher. Diarise the expiry and shop around early - a remortgage often saves more than people expect. Compare new deals with the remortgage calculator.
Variable and tracker rates move. If your rate tracks the Bank of England base rate, your payment can rise or fall. Stress-test your budget against a rate one or two points higher than today's before you sign.
A mortgage is the biggest financial commitment most people make, so it is worth getting it right. The government-backed MoneyHelper guide to buying a home explains the process in plain English, and you can confirm any broker or lender is authorised on the FCA Financial Services Register. If your rate is variable, the Bank of England base rate is the figure that drives most changes.
These results are estimates for guidance only and not personal financial advice. Your lender's binding mortgage illustration is the figure to rely on, and a qualified mortgage adviser can recommend the right product for your circumstances.
This is for the stage before you have a mortgage offer: you have found a price you like, you know roughly what deposit you can raise, and you want to know what the monthly payment would be. Because it starts from the property price and deposit rather than a loan amount, it also shows you the thing lenders actually care about — how much you are borrowing against the value of the house.
If you already know your loan amount, or you are modelling overpayments on a mortgage you hold today, the mortgage repayment calculator is the better starting point. If your question is how large a mortgage a lender would agree to at all, that is income-driven rather than price-driven, so use the borrowing calculator first and come back here with a realistic price.
Plan the rest of your purchase with the mortgage repayment calculator, see what you could borrow with the mortgage affordability calculator, and check the tax on your purchase with the stamp duty calculator.
Monthly repayments per £100,000 borrowed, using the standard repayment formula lenders use. Multiply for your own loan size (a £250,000 mortgage = 2.5 times these figures).
| Interest rate | Monthly (25 years) | Monthly (30 years) | Total interest paid (25y) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0% | £528 | £477 | £58,351 |
| 4.5% | £556 | £507 | £66,750 |
| 5.0% | £585 | £537 | £75,377 |
| 5.5% | £614 | £568 | £84,226 |
| 6.0% | £644 | £600 | £93,290 |
The repayment formula behind the calculator:
Rates move with the Bank of England base rate; check the current base rate and free guidance from MoneyHelper (the government-backed money service).
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