Spotlight On: Post Office mortgages

The deal

The Post Office hopes to grab a bigger share of the mortgage market with a new range of attractive-looking home loans.

Good points

Highlight of the deals is a fee-free five-year fix at 4.55 per cent for those with a 10 per cent deposit. There's also a five-year fix at 2.74 per cent which requires a 40 per cent deposit and has a fee of £995.

Bad points

Fee-free means being charged a much higher interest rate. Working out which is better – no fee or £995 and a lower APR – means pulling out a calculator.

Conclusion

For anyone looking to buy a home or switch mortgages, this is a sign that things are hotting up. But with a confusing range of interest rates and fees, it's still very difficult to work out what the best deals are. We need more transparency from lenders so we can compare deals at a glance.