Phil as yourself the following questions: 1) Where do you see interest rates going? 2) What is the maximum interest rate you can afford? 3) How long do you intend keep your first house?
I as these questions as I find fixing rates are a great way to control your costs, but in most cases you don't want to break a fixed rate loan due to break costs.
If you choose to fix you would be best to always keep a certain percentage of the loan in variable that can be paid down quickly with extra repayments.
The other thing to consider is the period for which you lock in for - but for that one you will have to do your own sums based on the rate you can fix it for.
