Should you fix your mortgage now or wait?

Fixed-rate mortgages remain significantly more expensive than many tracker deals, but can provide greater peace of mind.

A laptop with a visible keyboard sits on a flat surface next to a printed document. The document shows mortgage calculation details with graphs and numbers. Beside the document, there is a small model of a house with a yellow roof and a light-coloured body.

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Published: August 20, 2026 at 4:29 PM

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Mortgage rates could be starting to edge down again, leaving homeowners with a difficult decision: should they fix now or wait in the hope of securing a better deal?

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Nearly 750,000 households currently paying less than 3% on their mortgage are expected to come off those deals during 2026, according to the Bank of England. Those borrowers are likely to see their monthly repayments rise by around £170 on average when they remortgage.

Mortgage rates rose in late July as financial markets grew concerned that rising oil prices could keep inflation higher for longer. That increased the cost of funding fixed-rate mortgages, prompting many lenders to raise their rates, even though the Bank of England left its base rate unchanged.

However, the tide could be starting to turn. Nationwide Building Society, for example, reduced rates on August 4, with some deals becoming up to 0.19 percentage points cheaper.

The latest reductions apply across its first-time buyer, home mover and remortgage ranges, with its lowest fixed rate falling to 4.52%. The move follows a fall in swap rates, which are the financial market rates that lenders use to price their fixed-rate mortgages.

Carlo Pileggi, Nationwide's head of mortgage products, said: "After a period of increasing swap rates, recent falls have created an opportunity for us to reduce mortgage rates, and we're moving swiftly to ensure new and existing customers can benefit."

Even with these reductions, fixed-rate mortgages remain significantly more expensive than many tracker deals, leading more borrowers to question whether fixing still makes sense.

According to Moneyfactscompare, the average two-year fixed rate for someone with a 10% deposit to put down currently stands at 5.74%, compared to 4.8% for the average tracker rate, which moves up and down in line with the base rate, plus a set percentage.

This explains why in July, 31.3% of first-time buyers (FTBs) researching mortgages on Moneyfacts were considering variable or tracker mortgages, compared with just 9.5% in February.

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Adam French, head of consumer finance at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said: "While some borrowers may be prepared to accept that uncertainty in return for lower initial costs, others will value the security of knowing exactly what they'll pay each month. The right choice ultimately depends on individual circumstances, but anyone stretching themselves to get onto the property ladder should carefully consider whether they can still afford their mortgage payments if interest rates move higher."

If you're worried about which way mortgage rates are likely to move next and want the peace of mind that a fixed-rate mortgage can offer, it's usually a good idea to secure your next deal as soon as possible, even if there are several months to go before you need it to begin.

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Connor Harle, senior mortgage expert at Mojo Mortgages. "If interest rates then fall, you can swap out your old rate for a new lower rate, whilst also having the protection that if rates do rise, then you have your secured mortgage offer. Things can get better but they cannot get worse."

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