If you fail to keep up the payments into the savings plan, or don't pay into a savings plan at all, when the mortgage comes to an end the lender can make you sell your property if that is the only way you have of raising the cash needed to repay the full amount of the loan. There are a number of ways that you can choose to back your mortgage up, including the following.

One of the newest mortgage products to appear over the last few years is the current account (CAM) mortgage (also known as the All-In-One, or sometime a flexible mortgage), where you manage your mortgage as a current account within certain limits. This product was introduced in the 1990s from Australia (where they're the standard mortgage) and now accounts for approximately 20% of all mortgages.

As the name suggests, with an interest only mortgage your monthly payment only covers the interest charges on your loan - you're not actually reducing the loan itself. You'll normally also have to pay into another investment or savings plan that'll hopefully pay off the loan at the end of the term.

The mortgage lending market is very complicated and it is possible that people can suffer at the hands of financial advisors and others who may offer unsound advice. Remember, when choosing a mortgage - always ask questions, and never rush into anything. Always take advice if you are uncertain.

The most important decision you have to make when choosing a mortgage is how you will repay it. There are two ways of doing this: repayment mortgages or interest-only mortgages. Which of these you choose depends to a large extent on your attitude to risk. Read and find out more.

"Your home is at risk if you don't keep up repayments on a mortgage or loan secured on it". This warning means exactly what it says, and if you overextend yourself financially and take on a larger mortgage than you can afford to pay, you run the risk of losing your home.

The repayment mortgage - sometimes called the capital repayment mortgage - is the only risk-free way of making sure that you (rather then your lender) will own your home after the mortgage comes to an end. With this type of repayment method, part of your monthly mortgage payment is used to pay interest and part is used to pay back the capital you have borrowed.

If you are unable to prove your income, then a self certified mortgage could be the answer. This type of mortgage is particularly useful for freelancers and the self-employed as their earnings may be irregular and so do not meet normal lending criteria.

Housing associations and charitable trusts sometimes offer first-time buyers - who may be single parents, single people or students - the chance to part-buy/part-rent low-cost properties.