I only have an hour or so left to decide this - if anyone has a minute could they post their opinion please - would really appreciate it .
After reading further here the difference would be to break even I would need a further variable rate increase of 1.1% to happen over the next 5 years.
The reason no-one answers is that we cant really guess into the future. Its always difficult to guess/time the mortgage rates. You should fix if you feel you want security for the next 3 or 5 years. If you can afford the 5 year one and you dont want fretting later then go for it. On the other hand we had a major whinge thread here a while back about people in fix rate mortgages wanting to get out of them due to the falling ECB over the last two years. I suspect people are reluctant to go into advice on this matter because of it.
Thanks elcato for the reply - yes I guess your right. Just an update I took the plunge and fixed for five years today. Basis of my decision - Im no financial expert so fear of what might happen against my ability to take a hit of more than 1.1% over the next five years was just what I decided on. Read around a lot of useful info here and online and getting a 5 yr fixed at 4.35 just seemed worth the gamble.
best of luck to anyone else making a similar post - I see alot of similar queries appearing.