The LTV is the size of your loan expressed as a percentage of the value of the property you hope to buy. The more money you are able to save as a deposit the better. Mortgage lenders prefer customers with big deposits so the bigger the LTV you need, the fewer mortgage products that will be available to you. With an interest-only mortgage, your monthly payments pay off only the interest and you'll need to set up a separate investment vehicle to cover the amount you borrow, known as the capital. But these tend to be unsuitable for first-time buyers, many of whom prefer knowing that they'll pay off a certain amount of their debt each month.
Endowment policies are relatively low-risk but very inflexible.
If, for whatever reason, you have to cash in the endowment early, the surrender value may be less than what you paid in. There is also no guarantee that the final sum from the endowment will cover the mortgage, let alone give you the tax-free lump sum bonus which was originally promised. Some lenders offer special incentives to first-time buyers, such as a contribution towards legal costs, a waiver of first year mortgage protection premiums or a cashback deal. You may find that a loan which is open to all borrowers is better value. There are many ways that interest can be calculated by lenders, which can make it difficult for first-time buyers to make comparisons between different mortgage offers.