Mortgages. I don't have a clue

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

We've been on a fixed rate of, I think, 5.5% for the last five years.

That fixed term rate is soon to come to an end. September I think.

I have absolutely no idea what happens next. Our payments are going to go up, aren't they?

I would expect them to come down if anything. Talk to your own bank (but don't sign anything yet) and talk to a mortgage advisor or two. You can even look on line at headline rates others are offering, but you should be able to get a better rate than that - mortgage rates have been really low for about 3 years!

If you do nothing then you will automatically go to your banks standard variable rate. A quick look on the website will tell you what that is. I don't think its likely to be more than what you are fixed on so they will probably go down.

However you need to be looking at what you want to do.

Move lender? May or may not be possible depending on your situation.
Fix again? How long for?
Stay on the SVR, but be aware that once the rates do start to go up then while you will be able to fix then, the fixed rate will be higher.

You need to work out how much you can afford to pay. If your money is tight and you absolutely can't afford to go over a certain amount then it is worth fixing again. If you have a bit of money to play with, then you can stay on the SVR for a while and see how things pan out. My fixed is ending soon and this is what I'm thinking of doing. My logic being the money I will save each month now will offset the higher rate fixed when I jump back on that.

No one has any idea when the rates are going up, but from what I've seen and heard the general consensus is that we are not looking at any huge leaps in the imediate future - the economy can't handle it.

If you do do this, I would recomend making over payments on your mortgage while you can (you can over pay by 10% per year without penalties on most mortgages). Anything to get that capital down.