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In an analysis of business transacted through its mortgage club the provider revealed 87 per cent of residential borrowers opted for a fixed-rate loan in this year's second-quarter, compared with 71 per cent during the second-quarter of last year.

Stephen Smith, director of housing for Legal & General, said: "Borrowers who are prepared to take out variable rates have been few and far between in the past three months. And who could blame them?

"Margins on these products are high and it is almost a cast iron certainty that when the base rate next moves, it will be upwards.

"Fixed rates had been offering the full package until recently, in that they had been getting cheaper and they offer valuable peace of mind in a turbulent and uncertain environment."

While some of the fixed rates on offer had been good value Mr Smith said many were now on the increase.

He said: "Average three, five and 10-year fixed rates all dropped in the period from March to May, but a hardening of swap rates in the past few weeks will no doubt feed through to higher fixed rates in our next report in the third-quarter."

Mr Smith said talk of a recovery had been gathering pace and fixed-rate pricing may well have bottomed out.

He said: "There has been no significant upturn in house sales or mortgage lending, but both consumer and adviser confidence is up. Let us hope this translates into real results."

Sarah Gwilt, mortgage associate of Birmingham-based IFA Essential Money, said those purchasing appeared to be opting for fixed rates more than those re-mortgaging.

She said: "People re-mortgaging seem to be clients who are more open to risk so they are still going for the variable rate and seeing how it goes."