Fixed-rate mortgages `increasingly popular`

12 June 2009

Fixed-rate mortgages are becoming increasingly popular among UK homeowners, it has been claimed.

According to figures produced by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 69 per cent of borrowers took out such products in April.

This was the highest share since June 2008, the organisation suggested.

Meanwhile, the average fixed-rate mortgage was said to charge interest at 4.83 per cent during the month.

CML head of research Bob Pannell commented: "With the interest rate cycle now at its floor, an increasing proportion of borrowers are taking out fixed rates, including for longer-term periods of five to ten years."

He added that with expectations for the base rate to remain low in the near future, shorter-term fixed-rate deals are not as appealing as cheap variable-rate deals.

Recently, national broker Mortgageforce suggested that 56 per cent of the fixed-rate mortgage deals it was involved with last month were for terms of three years or longer.

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