Objective thoughts on a remortgage.

mickstereftb

Hello all,
i am relitively new to all this but i watch and listen with interest when Martin is on anywhere and do my bit to money save all the time.
My simple(??) question is as follows.........
We are 2.5 years into a Halifax Repayment Mortgage and i want to Re mortgage. £82000 borrowed from the Halifax 2.5 years ago and they want a settlement of £78500 when the term of lock-in is up at the end of February. Thats £3500 reduced from the mortgage since its inception although 4 months ago we had a yearly statement saying the settlement figure(regardless of early settlement clauses) was £78600!!! So 2.5 years down the line and we paid £3400 off yet 4 months later the figure has only increased by £100 after 4 mortgage payments totalling almost £1900! How so?
Now my partner is saying that it is best to stick with your mortgage lender for longer because your only paying interest off over the first few years and that in the next few years the debt will reduce significantly rather than switching every 2/3 years because the interest payments will start all over again. I say that whether you owe Halifax £78500 or a n other company £78500 it doesnt matter as long as your paying less each month and it costs nothing to switch.
So, HSBC are offering a 5 year fixed term at 5.18% which is what we are looking for at no cost to us, no arrangement fee, no legal fees, nothing, saving the £500 it would cost to have a new 5 year fixed with the Halifax and an extra £12 a month over what the HSBC want in payments.
Who is right, my lovely partner or myself?
Sorry for the long(ish) question, hopefully one of you wonderfull people will put us on the right track...(creep creep.........)