Last week Barclays lunched the UK’s lowest ever 10 year fixed rate mortgage at 2.99%, available to anyone with a deposit of 40%, for a fee of £999. This is about 1.41% below the average mortgage rate currently being paid in the UK.

I get the fact that a 10 year fixed will not only offer borrowers a good deal and long term peace of mind, but the big risk is that you have to stick to the loan for 10 years, or the penalties are BIG! Granted you can take the mortgage with you if you move (assuming you still fit to Barclays criteria), but who knows exactly what they are going to be doing over the next 10 years?

If I look back over my last 10 years, I live in the same house with the same husband and children as I did 10 years ago – but I’m boring! If I take my 2 best friends, one has moved house 4 times and the other has had 3 children with 2 husbands. Granted, all in the same house, but there have been lots of remortgaging to buy one or other’s equity share.

From Barclays point of view, although they aren’t making a killing on the interest rate, they’ve got you cornered for 10 years, which is excellent from an accounting point of view. Oh, and if you do manage to escape, Barclays will demand a fee of between 3 and 6% of your mortgage balance until March 2025!

A great deal if you’re boring like me!!

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