Afford, technically yes. But 'affording' is different to living. Yes if I had to I could pay the mortgage at a higher rate, but there would be no discretionary income left. That isn't good for the economy as at my age I'm quite economically active. So the general point is that it's not good to tie up economically active people's income in mortgage repayments at the expense of the economy.
Very much same for me.
Could afford 7-8pc but I would have no life.
You get a long fix if you're sensitive to rate changes. Shame couldn't fix for longer if you so choose.
15 year would be enough to be able to be well into paying off a mortgage and thus be much less sensitive to anything unexpected at point of renewal.