Pick of the Pundits: Mortgages need fixing: Experts on the different aspects of personal finance talk to Vivien Goldsmith and Maria Scott about the prospects for 1993 as signs of recovery grow firmer: Ian McKenna

Ian McKenna, of the mortgage brokers Blyth McKenna, believes that borrowers who have the opportunity to fix their mortgage rates for between three and five years would be well advised to do so.

Five-year rates rose about 0.75 percentage points in the last few weeks of 1992. There are shorter-term fixes available at low rates but one or two-year terms are not long enough.

'Don't be greedy - 8.5 per cent or 8.75 per cent is worthwhile over five years.'

Mr McKenna believes it will be increasingly difficult to borrow a high proportion of a property's value. Large deposits will be a passport to the best borrowing deals.

'For those people who fit the lenders' desired criteria there will be a plethora of products available, but those who do not will find it difficult to borrow.

'I think capped-rate loans - where the rate can fall but never rise above a certain level - will become increasingly popular.'

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