Trackers join the great disappearing act

Drew Wotherspoon of John Charcol comments, “Unless you’ve been on the moon recently, you can’t have missed reports of the great fixed rate disappearing trick over the last few months. Many deals have come and gone in the blink of an eye giving borrowers little opportunity to take them up. That said, the current crop of fixed rates have been around for longer than most, with two year Swap rates maintaining their current level, around 6.3%, for a few weeks now. The problem is, they just look expensive.

“However, the gap between fixed and variable rates has shrunk over the last week, with all of the variable rates that were at least half a per cent below bank rate being withdrawn. With these going, it really is a case of size matters, with some deals offering lower rates with big fees, and others more modest fees but slightly higher rates.”

So with rates getting closer and closer, which way should I go?

“As ever, if you need the security that a fixed rate provides, you should take one. One excellent product that now looks like even better value than when it launched is the wait and see mortgage from the Woolwich which offers borrowers the chance to fix at 5.39% for one year. It has a modest fee of £595 and free legals and valuation on remortgages.

“However, it is still John Charcol’s opinion that there is better value to be had in variable rates. We do not anticipate bank rate rising beyond 6%, and even that is up for debate after reading the latest set of minutes from the Monetary Policy Committee which recognise that most of the impact is still to be felt from the recent run of rises. We also believe that rates are likely to fall back in the second half of next year, so variables look to offer better value over a two year period. However, this is far from an exact science. Depending on the size of your mortgage, the best two year variable mortgages are from the Saffron and the Halifax. As ever, advice is clearly key.”