Remortgage as fixed rate ended?

[goodmum123]

Our fixed rate (which was actually expensive) has ended. We are now on 2.5 variable rate but know this is bound to go up especially if interest rates increase? We are on a tight budget, no savings, as husband is a full time student til may 15 and I've just found out I'm pregnant so will be off from August 14 until......I have to go back.
What would you do as I need a lot of advice. As there could be many/limited options out there (unless you know of any other gems of wisdom):
Stay as we are and risk the increase
Remortgage onto a fixed rate for 2 or 3 or 5 years?
Remortgage as above AND increase the mortgage by £20,000 so I can be off work for a year with baby?
Apply for a 6-12 month mortgage break. Does this exist? We've never been able to overpay

Additionally if we don't remortgage for more I'll have to go back to work in jan like I did last time but with terrible pond which I'm frightened to death about getting again. Should we get a 20,000 loan so I can stay off?

Your thoughts and ideas are very much appreciated x

Sorry forgot to add, we might not be allowed to remortgage for more if at all as I had a pay cut and my husband was made redundant , hence being a student therefor our income is 24,000 less a year than when we took out original mortgage. Talk to a broker? X

I definitely wouldn't add £20k to your mortgage for living costs. It's a huge risk and your house might not be worth £20k more for years, or decades, or never. Will you be getting SMP or MA? You have 7 months to save. I would try and be as frugal as possible and save as much as possible to enable you to have as long off work as you want.

With regards to the fixed rate/remortgage, I don't know and we're in a very similar position. I don't think interest rates will go up in the next few months but no one has a crystal ball about this stuff. I would say that if you can't afford for interest rates to rise then you should fix at a rate you know you can afford.

Thank you Antoinette, you've given me something to think about. What with the cost of a remortgage and the potential
For us to be turned down anyway might just risk the variable rate and stay as we are.

Has anyone had a break in a mortgage? How long? Do you need to have overpaid? Thank you x

I'd suggest approaching your lender and seeing if they have any suggestions. It may be possible to extend your mortgage period so that your monthly payments are reduced. If you've only just discovered you are pregnant now (congrats) then you both have quite a long time to economise, save up and cover some of the decrease in your income.

As far as I am aware, the longest mortgage break available when you haven't overpaid is three months. How much equity do you have in the house? Who is your mortgage currently with?