The mortgage industry in the UK has gone through some significant change recently - much of it for the better. The industry is more highly regulated now with all companies requiring to be authorised and regulated (either directly or indirectly) by the Financial Services Authority. Also the staff in these companies who deal with you have to be properly trained and have passed certain examinations. All this is good news for the customer, meaning there is less likelihood of getting bad advice.

What you will notice however, is that you will be presented with a fair amount of paperwork asking you to accept various terms, disclaimers etc, so that the mortgage company can prove they have done things by the book.

Before you get to that stage however, you'll need to decide how you are going to go about choosing a mortgage company to deal with - that's where this site can help you. We always say that the best starting point is to get a clear understanding of your own situation, what you need, why you need it, which product features are important to you, which are less important. That way you'll be better placed to narrow down your choice, identify what really are the good deals that apply to you and go about selecting a company to approach with more confidence.

Where should you get your mortgage from? Banks, building societies, supermarkets, internet brokers and companies who you thought did something completely different are all offering mortgages now it seems. You may be tempted to go for a high street name - there's no harm in that - but as long as you understand clearly all the terms of the deal (and all the fees involved) you should not feel bound to stick with the big names - they don't necessarily have the best deals.