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But jump to 2008 and the financial landscape has changed such a great deal in the last 18 months, that rate tarts seems to have been replaced by a new breed of remortgagers that must be understood if their needs are to be met.

As we head towards 2009 and last year seems a distant memory, are borrowers still looking for the the lowest rate they can get their hands on? Is two years too short a timespan to fix a rate for? With the current uncertainty do clients look to fix for longer periods? Or has the the flexibility of the mortgage now become the main consideration so borrowers can overpay when the going is good and underpay during tougher times?

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager of London-based adviser John Charcol, said while clients may visit an adviser with a specific type of deal in mind what they would walk away with was dependent on the guidance they received from the intermediary.

He said: "It would be fair to say there has been more interest in long-term fixes but we have been discouraging people from taking a long term fix on the basis that fixed rates are coming down.

"While more clients than perhaps a year ago might have that idea, once someone has discussed the pros and cons with them, their view can change. It is clearly part of an advisers job to give the client some thoughts on what they think is appropriate. A lot of clients will run with what the adviser has recommended."

With the current environment Darren Pescod, managing director of Cambridgeshire-based adviser The Mortgage Broker, said borrowers had a lot to take into consideration when choosing a new mortgage and flexibility of the product was part of that.

However he said it was important to determine what borrowers regarded as flexibility in their mortgage, whether it was having an offset facility or making overpayments, as a premium was charged on some products with these features.

He said: "A lot of people are moving to Nationwide at the moment. While they are not the most flexible of lenders they do allow £500 a month of overpayments. So for people who like the flexibilty but do not have the savings for offset Nationwide seems to tick the boxes. An extra £500 a month seems to fit in with a lot of people's budgets."

Matthew Carter, director of mortgages and savings for Nationwide, said the flexible features on its mortgages were designed to make life easier for borrowers to manage their finances.

He said: "We operate this overpayment system as a reserve facility, meaning customers can choose to borrow back what they have overpaid at any time, and customers who have been with us for more than a year can also apply to take a payment holiday of between three and nine months.

"We offer these flexible features as standard to enable customers to manage their mortgage in a way that best suits their needs."

While John Charcol's Mr Boulger did not think there was more demand for flexible products than there was a year ago he agreed there was a section of borrowers for whom flexibility was as important as the rate or the fees.

He said: "For some it is very important if they want to make unlimited overpayments without an early repayment charge. Obviously offset is one option for them but there are others, such as Northern Rock and Alliance & Leicester. It is very much horses for courses."

Viviane Clement, head of intermediary sales for Alliance & Leicester, said research conducted by the lender illustrated the increasing demand for flexibility.

Although low interest rates were still the most appealing feature when choosing a remortgage product, Ms Clement said her research revealed the number of borrowers who said flexible features were the most important aspect when remortgaging increased by 11 per cent between November 2007 and January 2008 compared with results taken in the previous four months.

She said: "Recent feedback from customers who were remortgaging pointed to increased demand for mortgage products to be flexible. Going forward we feel it is of particular importance that we consider this.

"Over recent weeks lenders have been offering more competitive deals and if they can incorporate fully flexible features, which include overpayments and holiday payments, then this is of benefit to customers.

Ron Stout, PR manager for Northern Rock, said flexibility had been a feature that had been valued by the now nationalised Newcastle-based lenders' customers for several years.

He said: "Our fixed rates are branded as fixed rates and the package that we have draws attention to the fact that as a standard we have flexible features, which in today's environment do prove popular with customers and advisers."

However The Mortgage Broker's Mr Pescod said it was important to determine exactly what customers meant by wanting flexibility, whether it was purely making limited overpayments, taking payment holidays or having an offset facility.

Mr Boulger said: "There will always be some clients where different features and factors will be more important for them than others and clearly that is a key part of an advisers job. Any fool in front of a computer and press a few buttons to see what is the cheapest rate.

"Advising is being able to identify what is the best value for that client."