We compare loans that can be paid back over terms of between 1 and 25 years. The APR interest rate you’ll be charged depends on your personal circumstances, and will be between 3.2% and 99.9%

This is a representative example of what it may cost: a Loan of £7,500 over 60 months at 3.3% APR would equate to monthly repayments of £135.60, and the total cost of the loan that you pay back would be £8,136.22

All you need to know about secured loans

What is a secured loan? 

A secured loan, also known as a homeowner loan, uses your property as security against the amount you are looking to borrow. They can be an option if you need to borrow a large sum of money (£10,000+) and have a poor credit rating. If you fail to keep up repayments, the lender could seize your property.

What to consider when taking out a secured loan

Before taking out a secured loan it’s important to assess how affordable the loan repayments will be. The consequences of not keeping up with repayments can vary, depending on how far behind you become, and could impact your credit score, and most importantly, the ownership of your home. 

Not all secured loan offers are the same and your personal circumstances will determine the terms of your loan. Here are some of the factors lenders take into consideration when looking at your loan application: 

- Your income

- Your credit score

- Existing credit commitments

- The amount of equity available in your property. 

The interest rate you are offered can vary depending on your credit score and your property could be repossessed if you fail to make your repayments. 

Alternatives to a secured loan

An unsecured personal loan offering the chance to borrow up to £15,000 over five years, for example, is a popular alternative to a homeowner loan. Not only does this option avoid putting your home at risk, it may also come with even lower interest rates – if you can limit your borrowing to £15,000 and qualify for the market-leading deals.

However, borrowing more than £15,000 is more difficult – and often more expensive – via an unsecured personal loan.

The only real alternative for larger borrowers is therefore to look into remortgaging to free up some cash. Mortgage rates for those with a large deposit – or in other words a lot of equity – currently start at less than 2%.

But the downsides include potentially high upfront fees and the fact that remortgaging means paying interest for longer on the whole amount owed.

Finding the right secured loan

Secured loans deals, just like those available on other financial products such as credit cards and bank accounts, vary widely. When choosing a homeowner loan, shopping around for the cheapest deal is therefore the best way to ensure that you pay as little interest as possible.

You can do this quickly and easily by using the MoneySupermarket secured loans channel to compare hundreds of different loans from a wide range of lenders.

The Compare secured loans tool can speed up the process of finding the best deals for your circumstances even more.

Moneysupermarket is a credit broker – this means we’ll show you products offered by lenders. We never take a fee from customers for this broking service. Instead we are usually paid a fee by the lenders – though the size of that payment doesn’t affect how we show products to customers.