According to Yorkshire Building Society, the proportion of borrowers taking out longer term mortgages has been rising since March 2012.

In February this year, 25% of borrowers who had been active in the mortgage market in the preceding 12 months took out a long term fixed rate mortgage. This is up from 18% of borrowers the year before.

Brendan Gilligan, product manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “With so much uncertainty about the economy at home and abroad, borrowers tend to choose a fixed rate mortgage to make it easier to budget month to month.

“Fixing for the longer term is tempting when our current mortgage range is so competitive, and there is an expectation that the Bank of England Base Rate could start to rise.”