The Woolwich is part of Barclays Bank, the fourth largest bank in the UK. It was established in 1847, and was one of the first permanent building societies. In 1997 it demutualised and floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 2000 Barclays plc bought Woolwich plc.

The main type of Mortgage the Woolwich offers is one in the traditional sense, that is you borrow a certain amount of money to purchase a property for which you make regular monthly payments. With this type of mortgage the maximum loan the Woolwich would offer is 95% of the value of the property.

How Much Can I Borrow?

Usually you can borrow 3.25 times your annual income. If you are self employed then it is usually 3.25 times your net profit for the past two years. The Woolwich also accepts joint applications.

Repaying your Mortgage

The simplest option is to make a single payment every month, which can either be a Capital or Interest repayment.

A Capital repayment covers both the interest on the loan as well as part of the original amount borrowed.
The advantages of this repayment type are that by the end of the term your loan will be repaid in full. You can also choose to increase your payments so that the loan is paid off faster
An Interest repayment means that your monthly payment only covers the interest payable on your mortgage and does NOT pay off any of the initial loan.
You will need a separate financial plan to cover your actual loan.

When you first take out your mortgage, the Woolwich will give you advice on the interest payable on the loan. If you choose a capital repayment mortgage you will also be advised how much of your loan needs to be paid to finish the mortgage by the end of the agreed term.

You need to pay the requested amount(s) monthly until the end of the Woolwich’s mortgage financial year (presently 30 September) then a recalculation will be made to decide what payments you make for the following year, taking into account other changes are made such as interest rate alterations, extra monies advanced, etc

The Woolwich also has certain mortgage products based on a daily’ or monthly rest’.

For daily rest’ accounts the amount of interest to be charged is calculated on a daily rather than a yearly basis. So that whenever you make your monthly payments, or any other additional mortgage payments, these will be directly credited to your account and the capital figure adjusted accordingly, rather than at the end of the year.
Similarly for monthly rest’ accounts, the amount of interest to be charged is recalculated on a monthly rather than an yearly basis, so you end up paying off your loan more faster.

YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT MAINTAIN YOUR MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS.