Britannia

The Britannia goes back to1856, and it was at this time that the Leek and Moorlands Permanent Benefit Building Society was set up. The society by 1857 had a total of 204 members.  In 1921 the assets of the society had exceeded £1m.

The society developed over a period of time to become the Britannia due to a succession of amalgamations with the first being with the Longton Mutual Permanent Benefit Building Society which occurred in 1938.   In 1960 another merger took place with the NALGO Building Society becoming the 10th biggest society in the UK.  Another amalgamation took place in 1975 with the Oldbury Britannia Building Society when the name of Britannia was given.

In 2009 a merger took place with the Co-operative but prior to this amalgamation the Britannia was a mutual building society and its head office was in Leek Staffordshire and was the second biggest building society in the United Kingdom with assets of at the end of December 2007 of £36.8 billion!

The Britannia has in excess of 250 branches throughout the UK and not only offers mortgages and saving products but lending to commercial businesses.

They offer the following mortgages:

  • Fixed Rate Mortgages – where the interest rate is fixed for a certain period of time and monthly payments do not alter even if interest rates increase or decrease
  • Tracker Mortgages – these follow the Bank of England Base Rate which means that your monthly payments can increase or decrease
  • Offset Mortgages – these mortgages fundamentally amalgamate your mortgage, savings, current account or any other borrowings (i.e. loans) into one large flexible account, think of it as a normal bank account but with a large overdraft ceiling. Therefore your mortgage repayments are used to reduce the outstanding amount of your overdraft which is very similar to a conventional mortgage

Fixed Rate Mortgages

The Britannia have a variety of Fixed Rate Mortgages such as two-year; three-year; five-year; Current Account Exclusive five-year and ten-year.

Below is an example of the two options that the Britannia has on offer for a two-year Fixed Rate Mortgage which is available to first time buyers, if you are moving home and the remortgaging of the property you are currently in and is dependent on a maximum advance of 85%.

First Option

  • The maximum advance is 75%
  • The initial rate of interest is 3.39% which is fixed until the 31st January 2014 and then changes to their SVR (Standard Variable Rate) which currently is 4.24% for the remaining term of the mortgage
  • The arrangement fee is £999 and this includes a non-refundable booking fee of £150
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply up to the 31st January 2014 and there are also valuation and solicitor fees
  • The maximum advance is 85%
  • The initial rate of interest is 3.99% which is fixed until the 31st January 2014 and then changes to their SVR (Standard Variable Rate) which currently is 4.24% for the remaining term of the mortgage
  • The arrangement fee is £999 and this includes a non-refundable booking fee of £150
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply up to the 31st January 2014 and there are also valuation and solicitor fees

Second Option

  • The maximum advance is 75%
  • The initial rate of interest is 3.59% which is fixed until the 31st January 2014 and then changes to their SVR (Standard Variable Rate) which currently is 4.24% for the remaining term of the mortgage
  • There are no arrangement fees
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply up to the 31st January 2014 and there are also valuation and solicitor fees
  • The maximum advance is 85%
  • The initial rate of interest is 4.19% which is fixed until the 31st January 2014 and then changes to their SVR (Standard Variable Rate) which currently is 4.24% for the remaining term of the mortgage
  • There are no arrangement fees
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply up to the 31st January 2014 and there are also valuation and solicitor fees

Tracker Mortgages

Below is an example of the Current Account Exclusive Lifetime Tracker Rate Mortgage the Britannia has on offer.

  • The maximum advance is 75%
  • The rate of interest tracks the Bank of England Base Rate plus 2.69%, currently is 3.19% and variable for the full term of the mortgage
  • There are no arrangement fees
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply for the first three years after finalization and there are also valuation and solicitor fees
  • The maximum advance is 85%
  • The rate of interest tracks the Bank of England Base Rate plus 3.19%, currently is 3.69% and variable for the full term of the mortgage
  • There are no arrangement fees
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply for the first three years after finalization and there are also valuation and solicitor fees

Offset Mortgages

Below is an example of the two options that the Britannia has on offer for Offset Mortgages which are available to first time buyers, if you are moving home and the remortgaging of the property you are currently occupying.

First Option

  • The maximum advance is 75%
  • The rate of interest tracks the Bank of England Base Rate plus 2.39%, currently is 3.39% and variable for the full term of the mortgage
  • The arrangement fee is £999 and includes a non-refundable booking fee which is £150
  • There are early repayment charges which will apply for the first year and there are also valuation and solicitor fees

Second Option

  • The maximum advance is 75%
  • The rate of interest tracks the Bank of England Base Rate plus 2.69%, currently is 3.69% and variable for the full term of the mortgage
  • Because of the ‘rate floor’ the rate for this mortgage will not drop under 3.69% during the full term of the mortgage.
    • Note the ‘rate floor’ applies on the Britannia’s ‘Offset Savings’ mortgages and therefore if the Bank of England Base Rate falls below 1.00%, the Britannia will carry on charging  based on Bank Of England Base Rate being identical to 1.00% and due to this your repayments will not drop beyond this ‘floor’.
    • There is no arrangement fee
    • There are early repayment charges which will apply for the first year and there are also valuation and solicitor fees