Whatever happens with the Bank of England raising or lowering the base rate, your repayments are fixed for as long as the deal lasts (typically two, three or five years - although there are increasingly longer terms being offered).

In effect you are taking out an insurance policy against interest rates going up (and also unfortunately going down, i.e. if rates go down then your repayments do not). That protection costs money, so all other things being equal, a 3 year fixed mortgage will have a higher rate than a 3 year discount mortgage.

It is possible to get a fixed mortgage for 10 or even 25 years, but such long term security is expensive and you won't be too happy if rates go down for a while.

Pros: A Fixed Rate mortgage provides certainty. You know exactly what your mortgage will cost you each month and your payments will not go up regardless of how much the base rate rises.

Cons: The rates are normally higher than on some other mortgage types e.g. discount mortgages. Also if interest rates fall you will not see your monthly payments drop.