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Original poster

How long are people fixing their mortgages for?

26 replies

TellerTuesday · 30/07/2022 21:23

Current fixed rate ends at the end of October, I can change deals from Monday but unsure how long to fix for.

LTV is approx 40% so a lot of equity with 14 years left on current mortgage.

Part of me wants to fix for 10 years but is there a chance that the interest rates will drop after the cost of living crisis similar to what happened in 2008 ish?? Not sure if I should go with 5 instead.

OP posts:
DeltaAlphaDelta79 · 30/07/2022 21:24

We did 5 but mainly because we know we intend to stay here for that long. We may be moving anyway after that time, so it seemed right for us. If we were definitely staying longer we may have locked in longer.

changingroom · 30/07/2022 21:35

I wouldn't go for 10 while things are so unstable maybe go for 3 or 5. Then if things are more settled go for 10 to finish up the mortgage.

shivawn · 31/07/2022 05:18

We went for 5 years.

MsTSwift · 31/07/2022 05:32

We went for 10 years in 2018 as in our forever house. Seems a good call now.

WutheringMights · 31/07/2022 05:49

I fixed for 5 years 3 months ago. Interests rates are currently higher than they have been over recent years but will likely creep up over the next 18 months.

A 10 year fix is too long (IMO) when you look at previous rises and falls.

RichardsGear · 31/07/2022 05:54

We also had a similar LTV and took a 10 year fix last year which take us almost to term. Got an excellent rate and I'm glad to have a straight ride for the next decade rather than a potential rollercoaster.

MsMarvellous · 31/07/2022 05:57

We did 5 years when we remortgaged last month. Hopefully whatever is on the horizon will settle after that.

honkeytonkwoman38 · 31/07/2022 06:43

I fixed for 5 last time so that's up in 2024 then only have 4 years of mortgage left to pay thankfully.

Allicando · 31/07/2022 06:47

I remortgaged last month and fixed for 5 years too, they did charge me 2k for this though but it was the best rate I could get (2.35%). I am moving next year and will port the mortgage, I am going to try and overpay for those remaining 4 years.

Unwavering721 · 01/08/2022 17:16

I would fix for as long as you can. Interest rates are so low right now…they could go up to 15% or more, why take the risk?

Brented · 01/08/2022 17:19

2yrs, we want to move. It doesn’t really matter to us if interest rates go up, as house prices will then fall, and monthly expenditure will be the same. Would prefer a small mortgage with higher rates!

reoyl · 01/08/2022 17:21

Will rates really go up more than 7percent?! I thought it would settle in a year or so

Allicando · 02/08/2022 06:30

Unwavering721 · 01/08/2022 17:16

I would fix for as long as you can. Interest rates are so low right now…they could go up to 15% or more, why take the risk?

Can you link to where you have that info please?

cathol · 02/08/2022 06:50

We've just gone for ten years. We got a rate a little over 2%. PPs talk about not fixing for so long while things could go up or down - I'm very comfortable being "stuck" at 2% if shorter fixed rates go to 1.8% like they did. The risk of them going significantly higher is what many should be worried about.

Frazzled2207 · 02/08/2022 07:00

5 but in our case we intend to have not much left to pay after 5 years so not necessarily relevant

Goldfishmountainclimber · 02/08/2022 07:06

We went for 10 years recently. We decided on this so that we would have certainty.

glamourousindierockandroll · 02/08/2022 07:16

@Allicando I've heard it in lots of places that mortgage rates could go into double figures.

I'm tied in for another two years so quite worried about what the landscape will be by then.

Meredusoleil · 02/08/2022 07:21

RichardsGear · 31/07/2022 05:54

We also had a similar LTV and took a 10 year fix last year which take us almost to term. Got an excellent rate and I'm glad to have a straight ride for the next decade rather than a potential rollercoaster.

Same here although it was earlier this year. Our rate is <2% so think it was a good deal. Hopefully be near the end of the mortgage term after 10 years 🤞

BooksAndChooks · 02/08/2022 07:24

We went for 10 years but our rate was 1.86%. My logic was that there wasn't much room for then to drop lower, but plenty of room for them to go higher than 1.86%.

Also something to consider, could you afford your mortgage at 5/6/7%+ ? If it's a definite no then tying in longer makes more sense. If it would make little difference to you then the balance of risk changes slightly.

I would definitely either do 5 or 10 years.
What rates are you being offered?

surlycurly · 02/08/2022 07:25

I remortgaged in Nov for 5 years. I wasn't offered to fix for ten but am not sure I'd have wanted to. I did get a stupidly low rate (1.8 or slightly less I think).

sarahc336 · 02/08/2022 07:31

We were advised by our broker at the start of the year that 5 is best at the min because they think they'll be strange times over the next 2/3 years with the interest rates shooting up higher and higher, they've already massively shot up since the start of the year. I feel more confident that we're fixed for 5 x

Nolongerteaching · 02/08/2022 07:31

you Lot seem knowledgeable so I’d like to pick your brains if I may, OP

i’m thinking of buying (low end of market, a London studio/flat, zone 3/4, circa £120-150

this is all I can afford and will have a 5% deposit. I’d like to take advantage of Sinaloa government mortgage scheme that runs out this December. It guarantees 20% towards your deposit so you get favourable LTV rates.

to me, all this talk of interest rates rising/houses going down in value has to be balanced by what I can achieve. I currently rent at£810 a month ex bills.

i think it is better to try and buy before this scheme runs out to try and lock in a really good 5/10 year rate then wait for them to go down more and lose the scheme.

am I making sense or just panicking? What are your thoughts? Thank you and all advice appreciated

Nolongerteaching · 02/08/2022 07:31

Sinaloa? Sunak’s🤣

royly · 02/08/2022 13:53

we went with 5 because we don't plan to stay in the house longer than that.

Disneygirl37 · 02/08/2022 14:09

We've gone for 5 years