After a decade of short-term deals; clients are rethinking risk - and brokers must lead the conversation
In a market shaped by economic uncertainty and evolving borrower psychology, long-term fixed-rate mortgages are re-emerging as a serious option. For brokers, that means rethinking how risk is discussed and how products are matched to long-term client goals.
Rate volatility and affordability reshape the market
“Rate volatility is the new normal,” said Mark Eaton, COO of April Mortgages. “Whether that’s UK economics or geopolitical risks, the whole pathway now for what the base rate will be is very different from what it has been for the last 10 or 15 years.”
Client awareness has shifted accordingly. “Whereas before, nobody knew anything about interest rates because they didn’t move for such a long time, now clients are very well aware of it.”
Eaton also sees affordability pressure as a long-term reality. “This is going to be a long-term cost pressure on anybody buying a home,” he said. “Before, all the energy went into buying a home - get on the ladder. We think structurally now, the question of how do you stay on the ladder and move up it is as important.”
The psychological toll of constant remortgaging shouldn’t be overlooked. “They think the model is, ‘Well, I just have to worry about it consistently because every two years you’re going to tell me what my mortgage is going to be,’” Eaton said. “There’s a whole financial wellness piece, too.”
Stability opens the door to better planning
At the heart of long-term products is predictability. “If you know what your payments are going to be, you then have the confidence as a customer to plan for things,” Eaton said, listing childcare, education, retirement plans, and home improvements as key examples.
He cautions against overconfidence in future refinancing. “You can be in a position with regards to your credit circumstances today, but if you then try and do something in two or three years, you just can’t because of the way life happens.”
Remortgaging also adds complexity. “Frequent remortgaging does create friction, there could be costs, there could be an advice fee every two years depending on how you organize it,” he said. “It’s not about what today’s rates are versus a 10-year rate versus a two-year rate… it’s what’s the potential cost over the next 20 years.”
Modern features support flexibility
Eaton acknowledges that long fixes were historically rigid. “We accepted when we came into the market that the longer-term fixed rate market was a bit structurally broken,” he said.
April Mortgages addressed this through three key features: rate reductions as loan-to-value improves, more flexible ERCs for life changes like moving or inheritance, and better commission structures for brokers.
“You almost need the second part for the first part to be practical enough to do anything with,” he said. “Otherwise, you end up with certainty and no flexibility, which doesn’t fit a modern borrower.”
Risk conversations should be standard
Long fixes aren’t a universal answer, Eaton stressed, but risk must be part of the advice conversation.
“If you took £220,000 to a financial advisor… one of the first things they’d discuss with you is your appetite to risk,” he said. “It seems to us completely illogical that you wouldn’t have the same conversation” when borrowing the same amount.
That gap also plays out in product selection. “If you’re just going to sell the cheapest products, you will probably be doing what people before you have done for a decade,” Eaton warned. “But we don’t think the next 10 years looks anything like the last 10 years.”
Rethinking how advice is remembered
For Eaton, the deeper issue is cultural. “You would never meet a financial advisor who said, ‘You should invest in this because I know shares are going to go up.’”
Yet mortgage advice often hinges on market speculation. “It appears that we’re all high-risk investors because everybody wants to take a short-term deal and play the money market and hope rates come down.”
He believes that mindset is outdated. “Without the flexibility features, I get it – long fixes were hard to recommend,” he said. “But now that lenders have started to unlock the flexibility side, we think the conversation deserves a space.”
Eaton sees a disconnect between what clients value and what they recall. “Most of the research we see still says if you speak to clients directly, they say there’s real value in this conversation,” he said. “But if you speak to them after they’ve spoken to a broker… they don’t remember having consciously made that choice.”
It’s a call for brokers to shift from product placement to long-term planning. “They end up short, but they’re not quite sure other than, ‘I was told it was cheapest,’” he said. “Which could be true but could equally be completely untrue.”
In a volatile market, Eaton argues, real advice means asking the harder questions, and helping clients answer them.
