Are 10 year mortgage deals a good idea

RemortgagerOne

I have seen one advertised for 4.95% and am very interested in it.

Is it too long a period for that rate?

I am now on a capped 5.74% rate so it will be £100 less per month but I am concerned about tieing myself in for 10 years as we normally only tie ourselves in for 5 years fixed or capped.

What fo people think?

Also my current provider gives me an option of a holiday in case I need to , for up to 6 months.
The 10 year one has no holiday option but I only like that option as I am a born worrier and it is a nice safety net.

Any advice is welcome.

MarkyMarkD

You really should get professional advice before making this sort of decision.

There are big benefits and big dis-benefits with long-term fixed rates.

Benefits - you know your outgoings for the next 10 years; you have no exposure if rates rise.

Dis-benefits - if rates fall, you will probably feel hard done by and you'll probably face large exit penalties. If your circumstances change, you will face large exit penalties. Even if the mortgage is portable (and it almost definitely will be) the lender may not like you, or your new property, or your employment, or something else when you want to move house and may refuse to advance you the money on the new property, leading you to incur large exit penalties.

MSE is full of people who are facing large exit penalties moaning about them, thinking that because either their circumstances are special or because they can't get move their mortgage to their new property for any of the reasons given above, they should be let off. They won't be.

In summary, you have to be very confident that your circumstances will not change and that you either won't want to move, or your lender will definitely find any possible combination of your employment and the property you wish to buy, satisfactory to them, or you will be at risk by taking out a very long term fix.

But, honestly, get some professional advice before entering into a contract which could cost you £10k or so (or maybe even more) if it all goes wrong.