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ThisIsMoney - What would you do if you were remortgaging now?

ended 23. February 2024

A journalist on ThisIsMoney would like to know from brokers: 

What would you do personally right now if you were about to remortgage or in the process of buying? 

On the basis you could afford the monthly payments on all the options – would you choose to fix for two years, five years, 10 years or take a tracker without an early repayment charge? And why?

Would your decision be the same/different for a buy-to-let property?

The journalist will caveat broker responses to say this is not personal advice as all circumstances are different.

Also, the journalist is hoping to include as many brokers as possible in the piece.. so a good opportunity for coverage! 

 

9 responses from the Newspage community

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Simon Bridgland
Director at Charwin Private Clients
I would be jumping onto a 3 or 5 year fixed deal without hesitation. The products on offer are still very good. Forget ultra low deals, theyre as long gone as the lazy work from home days you had in lockdown. The new landscape for fixed money is roughly where we are now. Sure they may reduce slightly, but nothing like what many are hopeing for. The clue is in the rate, look at the difference between 2, 3 and 5 year deals at the moment. the short term deals are higher as it is predicted that money will cost more in 2 years time. If you like paying more than you need to and then you want to fixed again at a similar rate, go for a 2 year deal. If you really dont give a stuff about mortgage shopping regularly to get an up to the moment deal then a 10 year bobby dazzler can still be found.

For my investment property, I would study the fees, leading rates are handicapped by eyewatering product fees, which only benefit you on disposal of the property. As always overall cost is paramount.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
There is no blanket response to this as it all depends on an individual's situation. Morgages are not a one box fits all otherwise there would be one lender offering one product. The best advice to give anyone is to speak to a good, reputable, qualified broker who will have a rounded review as the market is volatile and yo-yoing all over the place. Good brokers will have the borrowers back completely and ensure a good outcome based on their information and discussions howver most of what I am doing is 2-3yrs max so people can review in the shorter term.
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Samuel Mather-Holgate
Independent Financial Adviser at Mather and Murray Financial
If there weren't such lunatics with their fingers on the big red monetary button this would be a simple decision. With inflation plumeting and the economy in the toilet the only sensible thing to do would be for interest rates to come down fast, so opting for a tracker would see your payments falling. Unfortunately two of the decision makers in the looney bin actually votes to increase rates at their last meeting. Making a decision on your personal mortgage in these circumstance proves very difficiult, but rates should still fall over the course of the next 24 months so a good tracker may be the way to go if you can handle the absurdity of the Bank of England.
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Akhil Mair
Director at Our Mortgage Broker
Considering the current trends in the money markets and forecasts pointing towards a downward trajectory from year 2-3, I would opt to fix for two years. The short-term stability provided by a two-year fixed rate would offer security during this period of uncertainty while allowing flexibility to reassess the market conditions afterward. It's a balance between locking in a favourable rate and retaining the ability to adapt to potential changes in the mortgage rate market, the same would apply for a buy to let mortgage subject to me meeting the harsh affordability assessment.
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Gary Bush
Financial Adviser at MortgageShop.com
This is the all-important question that is forever being asked of financial advisers at the moment. The general answer is if there is a 2 year fixed rate that you can afford then you should take it, if not we suggest a decent low tracker rate with no early redemption fees due for the tracker period. Apart from that with Lloyds Banking group having just announced an about turn with their Halifax fixed mortgage rates, in a downward direction, against all their competitors I'd probably recommend that you quickly ask your independent adviser to secure one of their rates for you as soon as possible.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
My view is the base rate is likely to 'settle' at around 4 percent in about a year's time. If I'm right, and it's a big if, a two-year fix with low Early repayment charges could be a good option right now. Trackers in theory make sense, but they are mostly priced at much higher rates than fixed-rate equivalents. So even a few base rate cuts may not bring them down to where fixes are now.
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Amit Patel
Adviser at Trinity Finance
2 Year fixed all day long for both residential and buy-to-let assuming the stress test fits. Each borrowers circumstances are different so a 2 year fixed will not be the best option for everyone. A 2-year fixed-rate mortgage offers short-term peace of mind and means you’re not tied down for a long time. It gives the borrower flexibility to get a better deal if rates have gone down after two years and if you plan to move house.
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Ashley Thomas
Director at Magni Finance
I would go for a 2 year fixed or tracker, depending on the difference with the rate. I recently changed my mortgage to 2 year tracker as it was similar to the 2 year fixed.

I would not look at a 5 year fixed rate as it is very likely that base rate will reduce in the next 5 years. If you lock in for 5 years now, it is likely there will be lower rates within that period and if you wanted to come out of the fixed it would have a significant early repayment charge.
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Rhys Schofield
Brand Director at Peak Mortgages and Protection
Well put it this way, I recently took a 2 year tracker in December with no early repayment charges. My thought process was that I'm happy to roll the dice, it looks like base rate may come down and mortgage rates for new fixes at the time were not looking too attractive.