To not fix mortgage

[Bluevelvetcake2]

Has anyone not fixed their mortgage?
Looking at current fix deals it seems like we are better off staying on our tracker because repayments on a fix now are the same as they would be if rates went up to 4%. Maybe I’m missing something here though.

Depends on how long the you fix for, in the past 20 odd years we’ve had a mortgage we’ve been very lucky that we’ve been on variable rate when rates have dropped and fixed when rates have gone up.

We, to the extent that is possible, have tried to predict what we think might happen in the next few years. We’re currently fixed.

Have a look at the Bank of England base rates here and you’ll see that the low rates of the last few years have only been around since the crash in 2008. Historically rates have been higher.

www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp

NB not a financial advisor 😁

We stayed on a Bank base rate +2% mortgage until the first of the recent rises, because it was lower than we could get on a fix, and when we moved to a fix we were able to lock in at a good rate which is significantly less than we would have been paying now if we’d kept the variable one.

I can’t see rates doing anything other than continuing to rise while inflation does, as the Bank of England has limited tools for tackling inflation, so unless you have a huge amount of leeway on what you can afford, I would have thought that fixing now while there are still good rates available is the obvious thing to do. Check to see what your current provider could offer first.

I don’t think it will be long before rates are at the 4% you mention, and there is a good chance they will go a lot higher. Better in my opinion to lock in at a level you know you can afford, even if it’s marginally higher than you pay now, than risk your payments doubling or more if your rate is variable.

But I am not a financial adviser or anyone with knowledge of the market - just someone who wants to be able to continue to afford my mortgage just now.

Don't have one now but always fixed except for, as PP said, when the markets crashed.
I personally would, as it looks as though rates will continue to go up, but don't have a crystal ball so make your own mind up! :-)

(I remember rates going up to about 15%..)

We can’t fix for more than 3 years as the plan is to move house then. The best deal our broker can find is with our current mortgage provider but it’s £200 more than what we currently pay on our tracker, plus a £1000 fee. I’ve used their calculator to see what we would pay at 4% and it’s about £200 more as well. So I can’t see why I should pay £200 more now (plus the £1000 fee) unless of course the rate goes higher than 4%. Confusing!

We fall off our fixed rate in May next year. I don't think we'll fix. I think that by that point you could be locking in to a rate that will be higher over the term. But - caveats, I could be wrong, our mortgage is fairly small relative to some others and we have decent savings to cover our arse if I'm wrong.

Our mortgage is transferrable, so if we move within the fixed term it comes with us. That's with First Direct, they don't deal with brokers so it's worth having a look at what you can get yourselves as well as broker deals.

We got in just before the recent rises and when the long term fixed rates were actually better deals than the short term ones, which was bizarre. Very glad we did as we are already paying less than we would have been.

Can you speak directly to the provider? Most of them have options to include the fee in the repayments and by adding a year to your mortgate you might get the figures down to your current rates and then you can adjust again when things are more stable OR to make small overpayments each month to off-set that extra year. Key is to find a mortgage that allows a certain amount of overpayment a month without penalty.

Our current deal ends end Oct. We've already chose a new deal to start then. Fixing for 10 years. It is a gamble but I would rather pay for security and stability, knowing exactly what we'll be paying with no risks.
It's a risk either way. But the way things are going I would opt for fixing.

It depends on your view of risk and also whether you could cope with a mortgage with a rate above 4%, 5%, 6% etc
If you want clarity on your outgoings each month, and certainty that the mortgage won't go higher, its probably best to fix at a % you know you can afford.
We fixed some time ago and while we are probably paying a bit more now, we are safe from further rises, which is a possibility.

We fixed for 5 years. The way things are going I can only see increases in interest rates for the future

. I can’t imagine they are going to increase several times then bounce back to the very low rates we have been used to.

I like knowing what I’m paying for the next few years tbh. That stability is important to us.

We recently fixed all of ours over the last six months, for five years each I think.

I wouldn’t want to be on variable at the moment.

@TimeForTeaAndG Do you mean a mortgage that’s portable (which most are) and has no early repayment charges? I did previously discuss getting a fix and then potentially moving in the term and the broker was quite against the idea

You can get portable fixes for longer than 3 years and take it with you if you move.

if you can afford the fix I would fix. Chances are interest rates will go higher.

I would take a 2 or 3 year fixed at the moment. Nobody has a crystal ball but the low end expectation is BofE rates of 4% by next May. Citibank are forecasting a 6-7% peak.

I wouldn't always trust a broker. Ours should have advised us to get a long term fix but as first time buyers we didn't know anything and now having to fix to pay more as ours runs out soon after only 2 years. We would have been laughing if we had fixed for longer.

Definitely research the market yourself, I have my new deal lined up from looking at the deals on Martin Lewis' money page. I also approached a broker and found all their deals were more than what I had found. I know it's a huge admin pain to get a deal yourself but it will likely be worth it for us!

I'm not fixing. And I don't care who thinks I'm unreasonable...

But I can afford it if rates do go up to double digits, my mortgage is pretty small to start with. That's the key thing - I don't need the security of knowing my repayment won't go up, with a fixed rate it's security you're buying...

I can afford it if rates go up, but I guess I’m wondering if I’ll be kicking myself for not having fixed now!

Depends on the size of your mortgage and how much you value certainty.

We've never fixed and it's been cheaper for all but about 6 months out of the 25 years we've had a mortgage

I did look into fixing a few months ago but all the fixes seemed to have a fee too high for it to be worth it, as we're currently on a lifetime tracker of 0.4% above base rate and owe just over £20k.

We're currently overpaying for the first time ever and if interest rates rise even more, we might even withdraw some PBs and just pay it off.

<insert obligatory apology for not being on the breadline, we have had a lot of financial ups and (mostly) downs in the past so feel very fortunate that we're in a position to weather the current financial storm>

Not a financial advisor obviously but a portable fixed would be the option I’d go for. I can only see rates going up.

The base rate is currently 1.75 but I think there is a suggestion if it going to at least 3%. I assume your tracker is base rate plus whatever rate your lender offers. We are on a tracker which was 1.98% but it means we are now paying over 3% and that has increased massively over a 7 month period.

We are in a similar situation in that we want to move but we are now considering staying put because as you say, fixed rates aren't even that good now.