Homeowners renewing mortgages 'want stability'

Homeowners who are renewing their mortgages place certainty and stability high on their list of priorities when making a deal, according to new research.

A study by Abbey found that one in three homeowners - an estimated 5.1 million - would fix the interest rate on their mortgage for five or more years if renewing now.

Furthermore, only 12 per cent would go for a two-year deal, while 65 per cent said that they would like to know what their monthly outgoings would be despite the Bank of England base rate.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages at Abbey, said she understood the attitude displayed by homeowners: "You never know what’s going to happen in the future, but at least if you’ve committed to a long term fixed deal, you know where you are going to stand with your repayments.

"Borrowers need to be sure however that the deal they take out is right for them and that they understand the different types of mortgages available before signing up to anything."

An amount of uncertainty was shown by those quizzed in the survey, with eight per cent saying that they preferred to fix because they didn’t understand tracker mortgages.