Is a fixed-rate mortgage definitely better?
With the Bank of England having slashed the base rate from 5% to 0.5% since last October, millions of borrowers on tracker mortgages have seen their monthly repayments drop – by hundreds of pounds in many cases. So now could be a good time to lock into a fixed-rate mortgage. That said, even though the UK base rate appears to be as low as it’s going to get, it doesn’t mean variable rate products should be ruled out as the consensus among economists is that interest rates are unlikely to start rising again in the near future. Some borrowers may therefore prefer to stick with a variable rate product for the time being and if they are currently on their lender’s standard variable rate or opt for a lifetime tracker without an early redemption charge, they will have the flexibility to remortgage onto another product without penalty at any time. What’s available? If you would prefer a fixed-rate mortgage because of the security this type of deal offers, you know exactly what your monthly paym