With a fixed rate home loan, you sign up to a fixed interest rate on your home loan for a set amount of time. You can choose terms from six months to five years.

If interest rates rise, your repayments stay the same because you’ve locked in your rate. However, if it falls, you won’t be able to take advantage of lower rates without breaking your fixed term.

If you decide to break your fixed rate contract, you may have to pay a fixed rate break cost. Some examples of why you might do this include:

• You want to try to get a better rate
• You're selling your house or you come into some money and want to pay all your loan
• You want to make extra repayments over the 5% annual limit.

You can make extra repayments in any year of a fixed term loan of up to 5% of the loan amount at the start of the fixed term by increasing your regular repayments or making lump sum payments.

• If you want to make extra repayments, you might be better to keep part of your loan on a variable rate – you can make extra repayments on this part whenever you like.
• If you want to make a lump sum repayment of more than 5%, you may be charged a fixed rate break cost.

To change your repayments, send us a secure mail or call 0800 000 654.

You don’t have to put your entire home loan on a fixed rate.

You could also put parts of your home loan on a variable rate home loan, offset mortgage or revolving credit home loan. Or, you could take more than one fixed term.

When your fixed term is coming to an end, you can:

• Re-fix your home loan via internet banking, our mobile app or calling 0800 000 654; or
• Change your fixed term to a variable or offset mortgage by sending us a secure mail or calling 0800 000 654.

You can re-fix your home loan up to 30 days in advance of your current fixed term expiring.

If you don't re-fix your home loan at the end of your fixed term, it'll automatically roll on to our variable interest rate.