Recent Abbey research has revealed that demand for five-year fixes is strong with very nearly as many people choosing a five-year fixed rate deal as those who would choose the traditionally popular two-year fixed rate option. The five-year fixed rate deals are also on offer for loan to values of up to 95%. For deals at this loan-to-value, the rate is from 6.54% with a GBP599 fee.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages unit at Abbey, said: We have a fantastic range of five-year deals, all at 5.63%. We’re finding more people are turning to longer-term products these days – one, because of the certainty they offer and two, because the deals are so well priced.

Homebuyers and remortgagers looking to fix for this length of time can get a particularly good deal with Abbey as our solutions for these buyers – which offer free legals and valuation and normally have slightly higher rates – are currently on special offer at the same price as the core version of the product.