We don't like Long-term fixes

Why would you really want to tie up your mortgage for the next 10 years?

It's a long time in anyone's book. But with the jitters now affecting the property market, the likes of Britannia Building Society's 10-year fixed rate mortgage, carrying a reasonably competitive 5.39% has attractions.

These are superficial, however. There is certainty, but if the base rate drops significantly over coming years, it may not seem nearly so attractive. Even the most nervous of borrowers should think long and hard about fixing for a decade or more.

Many borrowers who took out 10-year fixes at the beginning of the nineties bitterly regretted their decision as rates came crashing down towards the end of the decade.