Home buyers are ravenous for fixed-rate mortgage deals despite rates going up by nearly two-thirds in the past few months.

Legal & General''s Mortgage Purchase Index showed that the average two-year fixed-rate has risen from 5.87 per cent to 6.51 per cent between the first and second quarter this year.

And the average five-year fixed-rate has gone up by 52 per cent, taking it to 6.34 per cent.

But buyers in the UK are still choosing certainty over value to avoid risk, according the leading mortgage lender.

Commenting on the study, which analysed trends in more than 24,000 mortgage applications, Stephen Smith, director of housing at Legal & General said: "The price of fixed rates and petrol keeps going up and up, yet consumer appetite for both shows no sign of abating."

Fixed-rate mortgages hit a ten-year high this week, according to Moneyfacts, and many buyers are being forced to opt for a variable-rate as increasing costs become unmanageable.