Remortgage - stay with Halifax or move?

patient44

I have a £41000 mortage on a house worth approx £170,000. I want to borrow £20,000. Reason - to pay off credit cards and do house improvement.

My current standard variable rate with Halifax is 3.5% - so if I took the extra money with them it would cost me approximately £138 (as I have 18 years left on mortgage). If I remortgage with a new company I may get a cheaper rate but the fees on those with the lowest rates seem very high (average £1,000 to £2,000) and I can't decide whether it is worth paying it.

Also as I am going to be 50 this year I don't want to go interest only or extend my mortgage - in fact ideally I would like to overpay my mortgage over the next few years and clear it sooner.

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Thanks.

_Andy_

Have you asked them if they will provide further borrowing at the SVR rate?