Please can someone help, panicking so much about mortgage

You need to speak to a mortgage advisor. They have access to rates that we can’t see on the market. There are some that will charge for their services, whilst others don’t. I’ve personally worked with one that doesn’t. They earn their money via commission from the banks.
We were able to lock into a rate at 6 months out, and then every time a better deal came on the market we locked into the better deal. Ultimately we got a great rate of 3.9% 2yrs ago fixed for 5yrs which was good at the time, and has remained so. You will quickly get overwhelmed trying to figure this all out yourself.
As for the £50k I’d consider using that to offset some of your monthly living costs, rather than chunk it off your mortgage. And make sure you have life assurance in place too.

I did mention childcare costs. No answer so far.

Under the mortgage charter you can change to interest only for 6 months or extend the term, would that help?
speak to your mortgage provider, they will help.

I was also going to say pay off the 50k and go interest only. As long as you can say how you are going to repay the principal at the end of the term, many lenders will allow it. You will have at least 50k positive equity, maybe more, so you can say you intend to repay the principal from the sale of the house. Without positive equity that would look less viable.

This has probably been suggested already but there are some mortgages where you can use your savings (in your case the £50k) to offset some of the mortgage interest. Basically you deposit the £50k with the same company that is giving you the mortgage, but you can still access the money if you need it. Maybe that would be enough to get you through the next couple of years and hope for lower mortgage interest rates after that. So as well as looking at high interest rate savings accounts for your £50k, it would be worth getting advice about that in case it gives you a better overall deal.

Could you find a side hustle to increase your income if this is the case.

Also I think you’ll get a better deal than 6% if you shop around. Use a broker. I’ve used L&C before and they were very good.

I would ask your mortgage provider if you can pay off £50k on the capital amount borrowed and if so , what would the new monthly payments be.

I work in mortgages and I’ve never heard this.

your mortgage might have been stressed at 5% but given there’s a lot of rates above 5% now, guess that 5% rule might not be too helpful

Yeah, buggered up, requested it to be deleted as I couldn't edit and it hasn't been yet! Haven't slept and can't multitask! 🙈

10% of the remaining balance usually with most lenders. 20% for NatWest and 10% of the original balance with Nationwide.

But still, she probably wouldn't be able to anyway. When we hit our last year and our ERC halved, we had to have a meeting with an advisor before we could ditch our fix. We were on 1.99% and wanted to fix at 1.24%. We had to sit there while he did a load of calculations (he calculated that we would save £500) and asked why we wanted to re-fix. I told him that I'd got wind that interest rates would start rising. I think he thought I was being a bit daft! Anyway, it was a right faff and our ERC was only £500 as we only owed £50k.

It's still daft to pay £3k to pay more in interest for a year.

Contact London and country mortgage broker. They have been giving me 4.75% quotes. We’re currently on 2.1% so it’s a big jump but less than 6%.

If I were in your position I would use the 50k to sub the difference for a while (as has been suggested above) to give you some breathing space. Moving house is a huge emotional and financial upheaval (especially as a lone parent) and will still cost money with solicitor and moving costs which would eat into the 50k anyway.
Rates are unlikely to go down in the next 12 months or longer tbh (I work for a bank) so keeping your current home would make financial sense in my opinion.
Don't forget your property will appreciate in value over time so your Loan to value should improve also which will hopefully improve available rates

I'm also on a low rate which ends in February - so I'm looking at a big hike in monthly payments (though I've got less owed than OP).

I'm working through figures and trying to work out if it is worth taking a chunk out of my pension plus some savings to pay it off. complicated.

If you overpay by £50k your payments would be much less than 230/280 x 1600 = 1314
due to compound interest.
It might even be similar to what you pay now.

I know you are looking at the worst case scenario right now but you are in a good position, you have been paying your mortgage so you will have paid some of the capital off.. and you will have a good credit rating. In all likelihood there will be some discount rates available next year and you cam keep switching to get good rates. You are paying £1,000 per month now and saving £350. You might get a payrise of £100 and you could reduce your mortgage by £50,000.. Run the numbers through something like this... and see what you cpuld find if you were to renegotiate your mortgage now.. look carefully at your early redemption fees too..

I know you have to make the decisions and pay this alone but there are people who will walk this with you and reassure you.

Are you capital repayment or interest only?

I have not read all the posts so you may have already answered.

Do you have a spare bedroom? Are you near a large hospital? Universities pay generously for short term lodgings for students on placement (approx. £65 a night from Welsh Unis). Two 8 week placements in a year max's out your £7500 tax free allowance and would cover your mortgage shortfall.

By default they will all be enhanced DBS checked, and most will go home on weekends/ days off but you will still be paid for the whole block.

I think you’re spiralling a little, being on your own must be so hard but you’ve started falling down a bit of a rabbit hole as no one knows what’s going to happen in August next year.
A couple of things I would do is to start overpaying now whilst you’re on a low rate.
You’ve managed to save £350 this month, that’s great, try over paying by that much each month (check how much you are allowed to over pay)
I would keep the £50 000 in as higher interest rate account as possible.
If you have a spare room and can face taking in a lodger etc then you are allowed up to a set amount a year by renting a room.
A family member takes in students from the international school over the summer holidays, puts a little put up bed in her room for her daughter and then takes two students for the 6-10 weeks (they usually stay a fortnight and then switch)
Your income is only slightly less then our joint one with three children so whilst it’s daunting because you don’t have the second adult to talk things through/help, once you’ve put a plan in place you’ll feel much better

Personally I’d keep the £50k in a savings account/ ISA and use it to subsidise your mortgage. I wouldn’t lock it up in the mortgage because I think there’s huge value in having liquid assets, particularly as a single parent.

You would likely make at least 4% interest on the £50k which may fully balance out the interest you would save by using it to pay the mortgage. I make c.10% on my savings in a stocks and shares ISA. I have DMX. £60k savings and a £330k mortgage but it makes more financial sense to keep my savings in the ISA than use them to pay off the mortgage at a 4% rate.

Do you have a spare room? Could you take in a lodger and start putting that money away in anticipation of a rate rise?

I was a single mum with a mortgage and working, running the home and juggling 2 children. Its not easy and no one to share the worry with.

I always had a plan A and then a plan B and sometimes even a plan C

I was stuffed one year as my ex lost his job and consequently my incoming money took a nose dive. I started hosting students and had a couple of lodgers (fortunately from work, as I worked for a very large organisation and they were on placement for 12 months) it made a big difference and enable me to pay the mortgage. Ex got another job and started paying again but not as much as he knew I had a lodger so reduced the amount - eventually went through the DBS

After this I overpaid the mortgage with the lodgers rent for a few years and reduced it considerably.

I did do a few overalls of my finances using Martine Lewis - I got rid of everything I really didn't need on standing order or direct debit - so just the basics mortgage, council tax, utilities, water, internet/phone, car mot, insurance and house insurance for buildings and contents. Everything else went I had nursery fees to pay and wrap round care - but nursery doesn't last forever, then the older child went to secondary and I just had wrap round.

It is tough but it makes us more resilient

Not very likely . Interest rates are predicted to go up before Xmas due to foreign wars.

Best talk to a broker.

Have you looked at Money Saving Expert? There are mortgage deals on there at just over 4%. Surely you can scope the whole market and switch to a better deal, not just accept the proposed SVR? https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/best-buys/home-purchase/results?mortgageChannel=HomePurchase&repaymentMethod=Repayment&addFeesToBalance=false&requiredTermYears=25&propertyValue=400000&depositAmount=170000&sortResultsBy=MonthlyPayment&firstTimeBuyer=false&borrowMore=false&onlyShowWithNoUpfrontFees=false

If you've got 6 months left consider locking the best current deal with your current provider in case rates go up and refix if things go down. Most lenders let you do this.

I've skipped through a few posts but this is urgent, do not take a repayment holiday.
It trashes your credit file.
I had do this for illness at it means I can't get a new mortgage. Do everything you can to pay your mortgage.
If you're young enough extend the term even in to retirement. And I repeat do not miss any payments.