2 year or 5 year fixed mortgage deal? We can't decide

[Monr0e]

I know no one can give any definite answers, but we're struggling to decide whether to go for a 2 year fixed rate or a 5 year. We've tried reading up on future predictions etc but these are all just best guesses and we are still none the wiser

So if you have remortgaged recently, what have you gone for? And do you have any insider information that might help us decide 😉

We have just fixed for 5 years. It is not going to go down is it? In two years it will be higher and then we will be in the same situation again. Difficult one.

We’ve gone 5. I can’t take the thought of payment being even higher in two years, and I think rates won’t drop any lower than current for a long while. However we don’t plan on moving so that will work for us.

We went for a 2 year fix. We are extending and modernising our property so figured we'd be increasing the value of our property so we'd get a better ltv and hopefully lower interest rate when we remortgage.

Also 5 years here.

We went for 5 years a few months ago and I’d do the same now. I’d only not go for more than 2 years if I thought there was a good chance we’d move (and not be able to port the deal with us) or need to remortgage (eg for an extension or similar).

We fixed for 10 years.

I did the maths on how much it would cost if interest rates went back to my mortgage rates in 2007 which was 7.2%.... Horrifying.

I don't see how the rates can drop in the next few years below what we have now.

We went 10 and it's the only financial decision I've made that I feel
We got right.

We have just fixed for 7 years.

I fixed for 5 last year, I'd do the same if I had to remortgage now. I prefer the security of knowing my payments for a longer term.

Just done 5

Do you have any plans to move? Any big lifestyle changes expected in the next few years - jobs, kids, wider family, retirement? If the answer is no to those then that suggests a longer term fix might be more appropriate.

I'm an ex mortgage adviser and this is the one of the first questions you'd be asked. You might benefit from a chat with an adviser to help you consider things like this

We've gone for ten. Managed to lock in a rate a few months ago before the recent rises. We're about 2%, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over the risk of it going lower than that - it just won't in the short to mid term.

I did two as I’m moving at some point either next year or the year after.

We fixed for 10 years in 2018 …

We've fixed for 3 years as we would like to remortgage soon but would have done 5 if not !

We went for 5 because it gets us through the nursery fees stage so we know we will be ok.

5 years without question - I did this last year so only got 4 years left 😟

Thank you so much everyone. We were leaning towards 5 so I'm glad to see we're not the only ones thinking that way.

We have no plans to move although we are hoping to do some home improvements soon. Our ltv is valued at 60% now.

5 here as well and I always only do 2.

Surely if kids are imminent then you wouldn’t want to fix for two years when you’d be remortgaging on maternity?

We have just done 5 OP.

Yes, that would definitely be a factor to take into account. Big lifestyle changes around kids could mean plans for privately funded IVF, having children and being on mat leave, mat leave ending & returning to work, children starting school (a PP mentioned they have chosen a fixed rate that ties in with when they expect to finish paying Nursery fees), finishing school, starting University, contributing towards a child's wedding or house deposit, anything really.

It's a judgement call and always very specific to the individual(s) concerned.

My mortgage provider is currently offering a lower rate on 5 years than it is on 2 years. This suggests to me that they are expecting rates to come back down over the next five years…we are going to go for five years but I suspect that we will find ourselves in the same position as we were in 2008…paying over the odds once the recession hits and interest rates are brought back down!

That's interesting. My daughter is in the process of applying for a mortgage and has been quoted slightly higher for a 5 year fixed term than for 2.

She is going for the 5.

I've gone for 5 years, I would have done it for 10 if I could. It's portable if we want to move.
No one can predict what will happen in that time. I figured I would regret it more if I didn't fix and the rates went up, than if I did fix and the rates went down.