In a study of close to 1,000 borrowers, Abbey found that 24 per cent would favour a five-year fixed deal over any other should they have to remortgage tomorrow.
This represents a rather dramatic about-face by borrowers after the lender saw the figure jump from 10 per cent to 24 per cent in just one month.
The research suggests that borrowers are increasingly looking for certainty over a longer period of time as two-year fixed deals now trail behind in popularity.
Six per cent would opt for a 25-year fix and five per cent would go for a tracker - the latter falling by 7 per cent since last quarter.
Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, director of Abbey Mortgages said: “Recent reports about the shrinking mortgage market seem to have had a profound effect on borrowers. Not too long ago borrowers felt that shopping around regularly was the way to get the best deal, now homeowners faced with a dwindling number of mortgage deals seem keener then ever to lock themselves into a deal for longer than two years such as a five-year fix.”
