[isostatic]

> It only makes sense to go fixed rate if you're very sure that the interest will climb over the next term.

That's not true. I chose to pay an extra £30 a month on my mortgage because I'm not sure rates won't rise over 5 years, and I want to be confident of budgeting for the the next 5 years. I'm confident rates won't go down, but rates going up could affect me. Think of it as insurance. I don't take home insurance because I'm confident my house will burn down, I take it incase my house does burn down

[kazinator]

Do you apply the same reasoning for the last payment of the fixed-rate term? £30 because you're not sure that the rate won't rise over the last month and end up costing you £60; good insurance?

[simonh]

I think fixed rate can make sense in some circumstances, but you need to factor in the expectation of eventually refinancing. But then frankly you should expect to refinance anyway. It's highly unlikely that the same mortgage will turn out to be just a suitable to your circumstances and the competitive landscape in 20 years time as it is now, or even in 10 years, whatever mortgage you choose.

Here's my (partial) heuristic. If you see adverts on TV for fixed rate mortgages, don't get one.