Lambeth Building Society

CCC's Mortgage Providers

Lambeth Building Society

Types of Property

Loans must be secured by a first mortgage on a suitable property in England or Wales. We will lend on houses, leasehold flats and maisonettes, (purposebuilt or converted). For leasehold premises, the lease must have at least 35 years to run after the mortgage expiry date.

Lambeth Building Society Repayment Mortgages

The monthly payments consist of capital and interest to repay the loan over the life of the mortgage (the mortgage term). A term life assurance policy is recommended with this type of loan. The balance outstanding on the loan reduces each year.

Lambeth Building Society Interest Only Mortgages

For Interest Only mortgages you are responsible for repaying your mortgage in full at the end of the term. You are also responsible for monitoring the progress your investment is making to ensure that the proceeds of the policy on maturity will be adequate to repay your loan. You must make sure that your payments are kept up to date. You should be aware that if your investment does not perform well, or if you stop making your payments, or if you surrender your investment early, or should your personal circumstances change (for instance due to illness or relationship breakdown) the investment may not be sufficient to repay the mortgage. If this happens, you will have to repay the difference from other means.

Lambeth Building Society Endowment Mortgages

The borrower pays the Society interest on the loan. The monthly payments made do not include any capital and therefore they do not reduce the balance of the loan. The borrower deposits a suitable life assurance policy with the Society and pays monthly premiums to the insurance company.

Under normal circumstances, at the end of the mortgage term, the proceeds of the life policy are used to repay the balance outstanding on the loan, although this is not guaranteed.

The borrower obtains the benefit of life assurance cover, which will ensure that the mortgage is paid off in the event of death, and the borrower might also receive a lump sum at the end of the mortgage term.

Lambeth Building Society PensionLinked Mortgages

A method of repaying a mortgage by means of the taxfree cash sum available at retirement. It operates like an endowment mortgage in that only interest is paid to the Society during the mortgage term.

The capital is repaid at the end of the mortgage term, using part of the proceeds from a pension plan. The advantage of a PensionLinked Mortgage is that, under current legislation, tax relief at the borrower's highest rate is obtained on premiums.

Lambeth Building Society ISA Mortgages

The proceeds of an Individual Savings Account (ISA) are used to repay the capital at the end of the mortgage term.

For a mortgage linked to an Individual Savings Account (ISA), applicants should be aware that they are not guaranteed to run beyond 2009 and that tax relief on dividends is only due to be received up to 2004. In the event that the ISA facility is terminated the Applicant will have to put in place an alternative repayment method to ensure that the capital borrowed is repaid at the end of the mortgage term. Your Financial Adviser should have already discussed these issues with you.

Interest Rate alternatives

Lambeth Building Society Variable Rate

With a variable rate mortgage as interest rates go up or down, so does the amount you are due to pay. Unless you have chosen to change your monthly payments it will alter annually on our Annual Review Scheme. Generally this type of mortgage is the simplest. The rate may vary in accordance with the lender's policy (known as a "standard variable rate") or by reference to another index, such as bank base rate (known as a "tracker").

Discounted Rate

A discounted rate mortgage offers a discount off the variable rate, usually in the first few years of the mortgage. You may have to pay an early redemption fee if you repay part or all of your mortgage or transfer to another product offer.

Fixed Rate

With a fixed rate mortgage, no matter what happens to the variable rate, your interest rate will stay the same for a set period. This means you'll know exactly what you have to pay if you are looking for certainty when budgeting. If general interest rates fall, yours won't so you could find yourself paying more than you would with a variable rate mortgage. When the fixed rate period ends your monthly payments will change as your mortgage reverts to a variable rate.

Capped Rate

Capped rates provide you with an assurance that for a set period the variable rate of interest charged on your account will not go over a percentage which is agreed at the start of your mortgage. When the capped rate period ends your monthly payments will change as your mortgage reverts to a variable rate.

Flexible

With a flexible product you have the option to make overpayments or take payment holidays (after the initial six months). This gives you more control over how you manage you mortgage commitment. Interest payable can be linked to a discount, tracker or fixed rate product.

Interest

Interest will be calculated on the amount of your mortgage advance to the following 31st January and thereafter on the balance outstanding at 1st February each year.
Except for any period where a fixedrate applies, the Society may vary the interest rate at any time and changes will normally be advertised in the national press. If you have taken a flexible mortgage with the Society the interest will be calculated daily and the balance owing will be adjusted accordingly.

Monthly Payments

Your monthly payments will be reviewed annually. A statement will be sent to you showing the effect of any interest rate changes and the new payment required to repay the loan within the original term of the mortgage.

Early Repayment

If, in addition to making your normal payments, you repay an additional £500 or more, we will immediately reduce the mortgage balance on which you are paying interest, therefore reducing the actual amount of interest you pay. There may be a charge on some mortgage products if such a payment is made, please refer to the individual product sheets for details.

Property Valuation

We require the property to be valued and you must pay for this. We only use valuers nominated by the Society. The valuation report is solely for our use in deciding the amount, if any, we will lend. A copy of the report will be given to you if an Offer of Advance is made.

Only a full structural survey is likely to reveal any defects in the property. Unless you have such a survey, you may be unaware of any defects or other matters adversely affecting the property you are intending to purchase and for which you will be financially responsible.

Should you wish to obtain a more detailed survey, please indicate this on your mortgage application form. If you use the valuer nominated by the Society, you will save costs, as both can be carried out during one visit. We will ask the valuer to contact you to discuss your requirements and you will be invoiced direct, by the valuer, for the survey.

If you instruct a surveyor or a valuer without consulting us first, we cannot be held responsible if the firm or person you choose is not acceptable to the Society for property valuation purposes.

Higher Lending Charge

Where the mortgage advance is in excess of 75% of the purchase price or valuation of the property (whichever is the lower figure), the Society charges a Higher Lending Charge.

The fee is used by the Society to protect itself (not you), should you default on the mortgage and the Society be unable to recover the debt in full. However, any outstanding debt still remains your responsibility.

Depending upon the circumstances, the Society may arrange with external insurers to cover its risk, but you do not obtain any insurance cover. The Higher Lending Charge is paid by you either as a single payment at completion of the mortgage or as part of the monthly mortgage payment. The fee is nonrefundable.

You should be aware that if we take out such insurance, and we make a successful claim under that policy, the insurance company will have the right to pursue you for the shortfall covered by that insurance.

Buildings and Contents Insurance

You are required to hold a current buildings insurance policy to protect any property that is mortgaged with the Society. It is your responsibility to take out a suitable insurance policy with a reputable insurance company for an amount at least equal to that set out in our offer.

The Society offers a competitive insurance policy that will meet with these requirements. We can offer you an insurance policy that will cover both your property and its contents, if required. Full details can be explained to you by one of our mortgage advisers, with literature available on request.

Accident Sickness and Unemployment Insurance

The Society offers a competitive insurance policy that will ensure that in the event of accident, sickness or unemployment your mortgage payments will be met for a specific period of time. Full details can be explained to you by one of our mortgage advisers, with literature available on request.

As a mortgage is a longterm commitment, you should consider how you protect yourself and your family should you be unable to make your monthly payments. Accident sickness and unemployment insurance is recommended to all our borrowers.

Life Assurance

You may already have Life Assurance as part of an endowment policy. However, if you do not have enough life assurance to repay your loan upon death, please contact one of our mortgage advisers who can explain the options that are available to you.

General Insurance Standards Council

The Society is a member of the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC). GISC regulates sales, advisory and service standards, to make sure that general insurance customers are treated fairly.

Fees and Charges

You will have to pay some costs, fees or charges when you are applying for a mortgage. Our product guide sets out the fees applicable, Brief details of the usual fees are set out here:

Application fees: You may be required to pay an application fee which covers the cost of processing your application.
Valuation Fees: You may be required to pay a fee which covers the cost of instructing a valuer and our costs in dealing with his report. The product guides will tell you how much.
Product fees: some applicants must pay a fee to secure a particular product type. This fee is normally charged to obtain specific interest rates offered, e.g. a fixed rate, limited offers, etc. Again, the product guides will tell you how much.
CHAPS fee: we charge a fee to cover the costs of transferring the mortgage advance electronically to solicitors.
Solicitor's fees: your solicitor will charge you a fee for the legal work he does on your behalf, whether you are remortgaging or moving house. He will also charge you any out of pocket expenses (called "disbursements") that he pays out on your behalf. Your solicitor may be asked to act for us as well and his fee quoted to you should include his charges for this work as well. Where your solicitor is not appointed to act for us, we will advise you of the appropriate fee.

Once you have completed your mortgage, there may be other fees that you will be asked to pay. These cover the cost of providing any services you request (such as further advances, transfers of equity, providing title information, etc); as well as charges we make regarding the conduct of your account (such as unpaid direct debits, etc) and costs associated with paying off your loan during any initial period.

Portability

If you move home within any initial discount or fixed rate period, you may be able to take your mortgage with you. You should ask us for further details.

Your Information

You should be aware that we do pass information about you to credit reference agencies. As part of your application, we send your name and address to a credit reference agency in order to retrieve credit information about you and those with whom you may be linked financially or other members of your household. The result of this credit search is used as part of our decision to lend. We do seek your consent prior to the search being undertaken.

It is also our standard practice to pass details of the conduct of your account to credit reference agencies should you stop making your mortgage payments in full. This information may be shared with other lenders and used for credit assessment and debt tracing. We only do this when you have missed two payments and we will tell you in advance that we are going to do this.