Refix mortgage for 2 years or 5?

MummaMeerkat · 27/10/2025 20:49

If you're going to save I'd fix for 5 years. Our 5 year deal ends in December best deal we can get increases our payments by £250 per month 😭

AutumnLeaves5 · 27/10/2025 20:49

FettleOfKish · 27/10/2025 20:42

It’s been a busy time and I’d totally forgotten that our mortgage fixed term is ending in a month. It’s a win either way as we’ll save at least £100 a month on repayments whatever we choose, but would you refix for 2 years or 5 years right now? I’d like to hope that they may have dropped slightly again in another 2 years but who knows (not me clearly, or I wouldn’t be asking).

I did 5 years in January as 2 years goes too quickly and wanted to put off the hassle of re-mortgaging again! The rates would have to drop quite a bit to have made it worth paying remortgage fees after 2 years.

I made sure the mortgage could be ported if needed and I can overpay each year. I also like the certainty it gives me over my biggest outgoing for the next 5 years.

Original poster

FettleOfKish · 27/10/2025 20:55

Thank you. We are also trying desperately to sell looking to move and we can port the rate so refixing at the lower rate is probably the best idea given we’ll be upping our borrowing. When we refixed 2 years ago our repayments went up by 50%, so a drop of even part of that feels like a gift!

OP posts:

Tootsiroll · 27/10/2025 21:23

My friends think I'm crazy for fixing for 10 years but we wanted some degree of certainty in our finances.

rainingsnoring · 27/10/2025 21:37

I'm absolutely not expert but my feeling is that rates are going to go down more in the short term (maybe 1-2 years) but will then revert higher again, probably much higher. In general, in recent times, I would say take a v long fix for security but you may find that the 2 year fixed is worth taking just now depending on your circumstances and the exact rates and fees available. If you do decide to take the 2 year, I would likely take a very long fix after that for the reason given.

TennisLady · 27/10/2025 21:40

I’m in same position OP and think we’re gonna go 5. Like you were going save around £100-200 ish a month anyway and at least we know what we’re paying for the next 5 years. The 2 years goes so fast.

Original poster

FettleOfKish · 27/10/2025 22:00

Thank you again. If we go 5 years then nursery fees will be a distant memory by the time it comes up again, which is something I hadn’t considered before.

OP posts:

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 27/10/2025 22:30

2 for me. They’ve already gone down since I fixed wish id got a tracker. If you’re not sure you can get a tracker for a couple of months while you decide.

Peridoteage · 27/10/2025 22:48

They won't come down much if at all. Go 5 years.

People's memories really are short. The insanely low rates from 2008 to 2023 were a real extreme. I would expect 5% as a longer term norm.

Tootsiroll · 27/10/2025 23:13

Peridoteage · 27/10/2025 22:48

They won't come down much if at all. Go 5 years.

People's memories really are short. The insanely low rates from 2008 to 2023 were a real extreme. I would expect 5% as a longer term norm.

I managed to surprise a colleague at work last month. We were talking about house prices and mortgages and he said he was waiting for interest rates to come back down to normal before buying his first house. When I said interest rates now are actually closer to historical norms he didn't believe me.

I showed him online how abnormal interest rates were after the financial crisis in 2008 up until recently. He's only 27 so he's not really known a world without ultra low interest rates.

MrsMoastyToasty · 27/10/2025 23:55

I would go as low as you can for as long as you can. (But then again I can remember when mortgage rates were about 13%! ).

rainingsnoring · 28/10/2025 09:21

Tootsiroll · 27/10/2025 23:13

I managed to surprise a colleague at work last month. We were talking about house prices and mortgages and he said he was waiting for interest rates to come back down to normal before buying his first house. When I said interest rates now are actually closer to historical norms he didn't believe me.

I showed him online how abnormal interest rates were after the financial crisis in 2008 up until recently. He's only 27 so he's not really known a world without ultra low interest rates.

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I actually do think they will probably come down a bit more but only short term. It's a real shame that so many people are looking purely at interest rates rather than the actual house prices themselves! Those will likely come down more too.

witheringrowan · 28/10/2025 13:52

How much is the fee and would you be adding it on to the mortgage? Most economists think that the base rate will come down by about 75-125bps over the next couple of years, so that probably means 75% LTV mortgages at rates of 3-4% (because a lot of the future expectations for cuts are already priced in to the rates on offer). For me, the potential saving from remortgaging again after 2 years at a lower rate was almost cancelled out by the need to pay two sets of product fees (plus more if you port?) and it would be worse it you are adding those fees to the mortgage.

MaJoady · 28/10/2025 13:59

We did 5 yrs a few months ago. When we looked, they rates for 2 and 5 were very similar, which we interpreted as the banks not predicting interest rates to change substantially in the short term.

Also, we're planning on staying put for the foreseeable and 5yrs will take us out of the nursery fees era. We can also overpay and be well into the next ltv band in 5 years, so will be eligible for a better rate then. Rates would have to significantly lower for a 2yr fix than 5 for it to be cheaper to pay another £1000 in two years, and they aren't.