Homeowners locked in to long term fixed rate deals are often asking our advisers whether to dump their current mortgage or stay put with the lender.

The answer is it depends.

First, latest figures show remortgages are down 58% year-on-year and that lenders are not keen to approve mortgages for homeowners because no one is yet quite sure whether house prices have actually stopped falling or not.

Next, if you want to dump a high fixed rate – some people are paying 6.5% – 7% for five-year fixes taken out a year or so ago, then you need to consider any early redemption fees.

Typically, these could be £2,500 – £3,000 on top of the money borrowed.

Then, you want to make sure the rate your can fix at now gives you a saving taking in to account the costs of getting out of the other deal.

Lastly, take a conservative view of your property value. The best fixed rate remortgages are at 75% loan-to-value or lower, which means if you have a £100,000 remortgage and have to pay up to £5,000 to remortgage, your house price has to be £140,000 or more.

According to property price research by Fitch Ratings, some areas of the country are locked out of remortgaging at any cost – for instance the East Midlands from Northampton to Derby and Nottingham and across to Lincoln and Leicester.

Other places where remortgaging may be difficult include Manchester and the North West.

Another factor any prospective remortgage applicant has to take in to account is that lenders are rejecting 16% of all proposals, even from borrowers with good credit records.

If you have anything less than a perfect credit record, applying is probably not worth the while.

If you feel all your ducks line up and that you can get a remortgage deal approved, then there’s no time like the present as mortgage rates are as low as they are ever likely to be and waiting is going to see rates rise and close the differential between any savings you may make in the long term.

Finding a mortgage is relatively straightforward – clinching the deal is something else.

To find the current best rate mortgage deals, just search a mortgage comparison site like ours.

You can search all the best remortgage rates in seconds.

You should carefully work out your sums including all the relevant fees and charges for ending your current mortgage and taking on a new one.

The headline interest rates may look attractive, but once you include lender fees, a valuation and any other charges, the chance of making anything other than a moderate saving are not very likely.

At the end of the day, you might just have to bite the bullet and swallow the cost rather than turning in to a mortgage rate tart and trying to switch deals or lenders.

The only other option is perhaps discussing the situation with your lender and asking if they will switch you off the fixed rate, which is unlikely.