Northern Rock

Northern Rock's has it's roots traced back to the 1850s in Newcastle. In 1994 it merged with the Sunderland-based North of England Building Society. It then became the tenth largest building society in the UK . In 1997, Northern Rock's members voted to convert to a public limited company. Northern Rock ranks as 8th largest UK bank and the largest financial institution based in the North East of England. In 2007 it became the first British banking institution to have a "run" on it for 150 years. An outstanding achievement.

It was eventually taken over by the UK Government and will be forever associated with the 2 little things:

1) The idiotic rush to demutiualisation of the building societies into the brave new world of the free banking market. (Thanks Maggie. That one worked out well didn't it).

2) The credit crunch

Northern Rock has a variety of mortgages. The main types are the following:

• Fixed
• Flexible
• Variable
• Cash Back
• Offset
• Together

Fixed: your starting rate will be fixed for an agreed interval. Your rate will be determined based on the length of the fixed rate period and the mortgage product you choose. After the fixed rate period the mortgage will convert to Northern Rock's standard variable rate.

• An early repayment fee may apply
• An arrangement fee is applicable

Flexible: this type of mortgage allows flexibility in repayments. You can make underpayments, and even take payment holidays as long as you have made earlier overpayments. You can combine this type of mortgage with others, such as fixed and variable, to get a competitive rate and more flexible features.

Tracker: your mortgage interest rate is linked to, and set just above the Bank of England base rate for an agreed period. Any change in the interest rate will reflect on to your mortgage.

• An early repayment fee may apply
• An arrangement fee is applicable

Cash Back: when your mortgage comes to a closure you will receive a one off lump sum payment from Northern Rock. The amount will depend on the size of your loan. You can then use this money as you please.

Do you want to compare Scottish Widows mortgage deals with those of other lenders? Simply complete one easy form and an independent adviser will call you back with a choice of best mortgage quotes from a wide variety of lenders. Click here to do this now