To fix or not to fix....

AnotherJoe

I think you've got far too much money in cash/low interest places.

I suggest you work out what a 6-12 months expenses would be, reserve that sum then use the rest to pay off a substantial amount of your mortgage now (now because you'll still come out on top even with ERC)

Then, don't fix that new mortgage on a five year, take a low rate with no fee which will likely be a 2 year term then you can probably pay that off ovr 2-3 years anyway by overpaying as if you were still paying the £151k mortgage since now it's maybe £30k or so (I think you may have issues remortgaging to less than £30k from what I've read). Make sure you get a mortgage with no overpayment penalties.

Also consider putting some of your money into longer term investments. The fact you have £150k effectively in cash says you are ultra cautious but long term that's not doing you a favour.

I_am_sparticus

Thank you all

Its so good to hear a different perspective

Yes I agree the money we have is not working for us but I think this is just from a comfort of having it available rather than tied up. We inherited a lot of debt in a will ( yes it happens) and it cost us over £100K which luckily we had liquid, so now we are twitchy about having money tied up. There could be more debts to pay but doubtful but its left us in an ultra cautious mindset.

Crunched some figures
If we fix at 1.99% and continued to pay the usual monthly amount it would reduce our debt by £11800.
If we put the same saving into a 1% savings account and added compound interest we end up with £11746 after 5 years.
So the same money but its liquid not Bricks

Then in 5 years:
Interest rates go up
a) Use the saved money + saving to pay off a lump = Control over monthly interest payment
Or
Interest rates same ish
b) Refix again for another 5 years and save the same again

We would like to buy some Buy to lets as a Pension but not whilst the market is so high

Cheers