From mouse mat to the welcome mat

Hunting down a mortgage on the internet should make life easier for the canny housebuyer or the homeowner on the look out for a better deal. The ability to store vast online databases containing lists of all mortgage lenders, large and small, easy to read explanations of various payment methods and best buy tables give internet outfits a huge advantage over individual high street banks and building societies.

Then there are the little extra bits like mortgage payment calculators and budget planners that allow potential customers to get a rough idea of the punishing payments they will need to cope with. And in the not too distant future there is the prospect of applying online to all the major lenders without the need to fill in or sign any paper forms.

By contrast, marching up and down the high street to compare the various special discount interest rates on offer and their APR figures (which calculate the average annual interest over the life of a mortgage) can involve reams of paper and is an exercise which cuts out most of the best offers and limits homebuyers and remortgagers to a small number of often highly priced mortgages. Even brokers that claim to overcome the problem of limited choice have taken to the net.

Broker John Charcol, which has high street outlets along with a large telephone-based operation, supports one of the oldest financial websites, Interactive Investor International - www.iii.co.uk. It started life in 1995 and revamped its "mortgage centre" earlier this year. But despite the makeover, managing director John Blowers says it needs a complete overhaul.

"We are striving to give people an 'in principle offer' subject to certain information being verified straightaway. There are technologies around that make it possible, but it is a case of bringing them together."

Mr Blowers says he wants the company to act like a financial supermarket "so people can do a high street trawl in one place". The Interactive Investor site is up against three main rivals. Moneyextra - www.moneyextra.com - is a site designed by the recently listed Exchange Holdings, which made its money supplying financial data to independent financial advisers.

The site has the most comprehensive list of mortgage lenders and is set out in a style that gives the first time buyer the best chance of not only getting a good deal, but also the comfort of knowing they won't be missing out on some cut-price mortgage product elsewhere.

Moneyworld is very similar, though it can't quite match Moneyextra for the number of lenders and the absence of the Halifax is conspicuous. It also fails to give APR figures which will disappoint some visitors to the site who use them to judge a mortgage product rather than just the offer that affects the first few years.

UK Property - www.uk-property.com - has the smallest list of lenders. Like the Interactive Investor site it is backed by a broker, though in this case it is London & Country.

Egg, an offshoot of the Prudential, has probably made the most noise about applying for a mortgage over the net. It set out its plans to offer a full internet-based service a couple of weeks ago. The Halifax, which has just announced its intention to start an ebank to rival egg and Open Plan from the Woolwich, allows customers to fill in a form online. Open Plan, launched this week, will also offer online mortgages.

The form is posted back to the customer who is asked to check it and then sign up. Egg has rejected putting up an entire form on its site preferring a cut-down version. The payback is that the company guarantees to respond within 24 hours and the whole process can be conducted via email and post.