Million Pound Mortgages

What is a million pound mortgage and how do I qualify for one?

It’s a mortgage for a million pounds or more, and qualifying is very much lender-specific. Obviously you’d need the affordability to make that work, whether it’s a residential or Buy to Let mortgage.

As you can imagine when borrowing that amount, some lenders have certain restrictions on Loan to Value. Some lenders will do 5% deposit mortgages on several million, though, so it’s possible, but high-street lenders might require more.

What types of £1 million plus mortgages are borrowers taking?

The general types available are the same as those below the million pound mark. You could fix your rate for a number of years, take a tracker or choose a variable rate. Both repayment and interest-only options are open to you, as well.

What’s being taken at the moment really depends on the customer. Someone borrowing a million pounds might be very risk-averse and want a five-year fixed rate. On balance, we’re seeing more trackers or offset mortgages on higher value mortgages. As we speak in May 2026, with the way rates are, people are currently looking more down that route.

What’s the difference between two-year and five-year fixed-rate mortgage repayments on a million pounds?

As you can imagine, it fluctuates an awful lot. So many things happen that can impact swap rates and the Bank of England. That’s the general nature of the risk for lenders. Lenders look at swap rates to consider how to price their two and five-year options. At the moment they are quite similar, but that can change very quickly.

In the last month or so we’ve seen rates go up a lot because of external factors. Every month it varies, but often the rates for two and five years aren’t dissimilar.

Whether to choose a two or five-year rate will depend on the individual’s personal circumstances. Do they want that stability for a longer period of time, or think they might be moving sooner? It’s very personal.

Can I get an interest-only million pound mortgage?

It depends on your circumstances, but if they fit, absolutely. Plenty of lenders will offer an interest-only mortgage for over a million pounds.

As you can imagine, there are similar scenarios to take into account. The equity involved is a big part, as is the Loan to Value. Having enough equity gives you room in case the property market moves – you’re not ending up in negative equity.

The repayment strategy is massively key. How will you repay the loan at the end of the term? Are you looking to downsize? When you talk to an advisor, we will go through that in a lot of detail.

Can I get a million pound mortgage for a Buy to Let property?

You can, but there’s going to be a bit more scrutiny around that than a residential.

Buy to Let is an investment. The property isn’t to be lived in by you – it’s for someone else to live in. Lenders might question why you would borrow a million pounds and pay the interest on that, just for someone else to live in the house.

You can’t borrow as much of the property value on a Buy to Let as on residential. That house is going to be worth so much money – why would you let that out? There are risks involved, as tenants can cause damage.

There’ll be more scrutiny to check you’re doing this for valid reasons and that it makes commercial sense. Buy to Let should be viewed from a business perspective, and lenders will check it stacks up.

Can I get a million pound mortgage if I have bad credit?

It depends on the whole case – lenders don’t just look at the credit side. If you have bad credit there are definitely options, depending on the credit situation and the lender involved.

It’s key to have a full picture for lenders. It’s not just that there’s been a missed payment, we need to show a full profile that shows it’s worth taking on the risk. If your credit is under control now, there will be options for mortgages over a million pounds.

How does the remortgaging process work in this case?

There are no major differences in the remortgage process, apart from the general issues we’ve discussed already.

There can be different lenders available at this level of borrowing. With anything over £1.5 and £2 million, we might end up looking at private banks, and their remortgaging processes can sometimes be a little different.

It’s more manual than the high street banks. They often want you to actually go in and talk to them and get advice. You can’t just click a button online and do it in seconds.

To change lenders you will have to go through the valuation and affordability process again. Valuations on properties at this level can be costly compared to a typical high street bank on a standard home.