Fixed Rate Mortgages

Fixed-rate mortgage loans are the most common product in the UK mortgage market, with the vast majority of first-time buyers and mortgage borrowers seeking the reliability of a fixed-rate loan.

When you choose a fixed-rate mortgage, the amount you pay every month will be fixed for a specified time period – no matter what happens to the Bank of England base rate and the standard variable rate offered by your mortgage lender.

Locking into a fixed-rate mortgage is a good option for those who prefer to know exactly how much they will be paying out each month and are particularly handy when base rate is likely to rise. If you know you wouldn't be able to afford an increase in your monthly mortgage repayments, a fixed-rate mortgage could be right for you.

Typically you can choose a fixed-rate mortgage for two, three or five years. However, you may also be able to fix your mortgage for as long as ten years, but these deals are currently few and far between.

The advantage of fixing for a long period is that you won't have to worry about your repayments increasing during that time – as you would with a variable rate mortgage. You also won't have to worry about remortgaging every couple of years and paying out expensive fees every time you do so.

However, the downside is that it's difficult to predict how interest rates will behave over the coming years and later down the line, you may find your interest rate isn't as competitive as it could be. What's more, if you need to move house during the term of your fix, you could have to cough up an expensive early repayment charge to get out of it.