A fixed rate mortgage has a fixed rate of interest for a given period.

Choosing a fixed rate mortgage allows you to plan your finances, safe in the knowledge that your mortgage will not be affected by interest rate fluctuations during the period in which the fixed rate applies.

If your interest rate is fixed it could be higher or lower than other variable or fixed interest rates in the market depending on these fluctuations. There may also be early repayment charges payable, depending on the product taken, if you want to come out of a fixed rate mortgage before the end of the fixed rate period.

• View our fixed rate mortgages

On a Rollover mortgage you automatically roll to a new rate of interest each year unless you request otherwise.

With our Rollover Fixed Rate mortgage, each year as the end of the current Rollover period on your mortgage approaches, we’ll write to you and confirm what the next Rollover fixed rate will be for the following 12 month period.

The letter will include details of:

• what the next Rollover Fixed Rate will be,
• details of what your new mortgage payments will be; and
• a reminder of what your options are.

This process will happen every year that you remain on your Rollover Fixed Rate product.

If you’re happy with this new rate, you don’t need to do anything as your mortgage will automatically roll onto the new rate for its next Rollover period.

And if you decide you don’t want to roll onto the new fixed rate, just contact us up to 90 days before your current Rollover period ends or when you receive our letter.

You then have the option to transfer to one of our existing borrower transfer products available at the time (subject to meeting criteria) or, you can transfer to our Standard Variable Rate of interest.

Offset account allows you to combine your mortgage and savings to make your money work harder.

Your Offset mortgage and Offset savings accounts remain separate, so you still have access to your savings, but your savings reduce the interest charged on your mortgage. This means:

• You could reduce your monthly payments
• You could reduce your payments for future years
• You could pay off your mortgage quicker* and for less
• However you choose to manage your Offset mortgage you will need to select one of the different monthly mortgage payment Offset options available
• You can benefit on your savings if you're a tax payer. We display equivalent savings rates with our current Offset products
• You enjoy tax-free savings with instant access
• You could link the savings of family or friends to your mortgage with our Offset Plus feature

* If you wish to use offsetting to pay off your mortgage quicker you must choose the Reduced Term Option.

Equivalent savings rate explained

No interest is earned on your savings but interest on your mortgage is only charged on the difference between your Offset mortgage balance and your Offset savings balance.

In effect the money in your savings account will achieve the equivalent rate that you are being charged on your mortgage. The equivalent savings rates shown in the Offset products descriptions are based on the current interest rate of the mortgage product and, therefore, where this rate is variable or reverts to a variable rate the equivalent savings rate will change when the relevant mortgage interest rate changes.

With traditional mortgage and savings products you usually pay a higher rate of interest on your borrowings than you receive on your savings. If you are a taxpayer you may also pay tax on the interest that you earn on your savings.

With a Yorkshire Building Society Offset account the balance on your savings account is taken into consideration before we calculate the amount of mortgage interest you are charged. So, you reduce the interest you pay, which is equivalent to your savings achieving a benefit at the mortgage interest rate and you don't have to pay tax because your savings don't earn any interest.

• More about Offset

Buying your first home can be an expensive time. We have a range of mortgages specifically for first time buyers that will help you with some of the costs, and offer these benefits:

Please note that some of our mortgages have early repayment charges - please refer to individual mortgage products for more information.

Other incentives may also be available. For details of the products and incentives currently available please take a look at our current first time buyer mortgages, where only one applicant needs to be a first time buyer to qualify.

If you have any questions about our special products for first time buyers please visit one of our branches and talk to our friendly mortgage advisers, or phone our Member Contact Centre.

• Legal service for first time buyers
• Current first time buyer mortgages

These are mortgages where the interest rate payable is set at a certain level in relation to the Bank of England Base Rate. As the Bank of England Base Rate is variable, it can go up or down during the term, the interest rate you pay may vary.

This can mean that the Bank of England Base Rate, and therefore the interest rate you pay, may at times be higher than our standard variable rate.

A minimum rate of interest, referred to as a 'collar' or 'floor' usually applies to our Bank of England Base Rate tracker products and is detailed within the relevant product web pages, the mortgage product factsheets, KFI and any mortgage offer we may make. With a collared Bank of England Base Rate tracker product, when the Bank of England Base Rate falls, the interest rate you pay on your tracker product also falls by the same amount but cannot go any lower than the minimum rate of interest payable. In other words, the interest rate which you pay will never fall below the collar/floor applicable to the mortgage product.

These products are offered from time to time.

With a capped rate mortgage, you pay a variable rate of interest, but any future increase is capped at a specified rate for a set period of time.

This means that if the variable rate falls below the level of the cap, you are charged a lower interest rate but if the variable rate increases, you have the reassurance that your interest rate will not rise above the specified capped rate.

The variable rate of interest on a capped product is usually linked to or tracks either the Bank of England Base rate or our Standard Variable Rate.

Most lenders have what's known as a standard variable rate. As the name suggests, the rate of interest can vary upwards or downwards. At the end of special deals, many borrowers may pay this rate, so even if you initially opt for a special deal, you should take note of it.