Short or long term rate

Many customer ask should they have a short term fixed/tracker rate or longer term. Personal preference aside, short term (2 year) rates are some 1% cheaper than longer term (5 year) rates. If its about monthly costs then a 2 years rate would be the one.
What is the Bank of England base rate going to do over the coming years I hear you ask! Well with the recent news coming from the Governor and with RPI coming down to 2% then there is less pressure on the BOE to increase rates anytime soon. With the economy still sluggish it is reasonable to assume that rates will not increase until 2016. Even if they do it is not expected to be big increases but small amounts from time to time.
However, in saying this 5 year rates are very competitive, particularly below 70% loan-to-value and therefore if interest rate increases worry you there are some good deals to be had.