One particular type of mortgage is that where the rate of interest charged is set at a fixed rate for a spcified period of time. Anyone on a budget or perhaps first time buyers will appreciate the benefit of a fixed rate deal - repayments remain stable and will not go up or down, whereas with a variable rate product the monthky repayments will rise and fall as the Bank of England Base Rate changes.

With monthly repayments remaining static many people will more comfortable about being able to repay their mortgage - for a first time buyer who has not been used to repaying a mortgage in the past, this can be reassuring. Fixed rates tend to be on offer for up to five years, with a mix of deals available for different lengths of time up to that - we have even seen lifetime fixed deals becoming available.

The essence of a fixed rate deal is that both you and the mortgage company are making a considered assessment of what is likely to happen to interest rates in the future. If you think they are likely to go up then fixing at a sensible rate makes sense. However if you thought that interest rates were coming down you' be unlikely to fix, in the knowledge that you could end up paying a level of interest which is above the normal going rate.

So in effect you are gambling on future interest rate movements - in fact not only are you gambling but the mortgage company that is setting the fixed rate is too. So it's you against them! How lucky do you feel - we'd suggest that they would know a bit more about these things than you do - unless you work in the trade that is.

Mortgage companies are not going to lose out just so that you get a better deal - so if the fixed rates look nice and low, it's because mortgage companies probably think these are realistic for the time period you are fixing for - and it's possible that a variable rate mortgage would serve you as well or better.

One more point - for fixed rate deals the rate nearly goes up the longer you fix for - that's because there is more uncertainty for the lender and they need to be more cautious.