Remortgage but want to move house

[Isthisthisreallife]

Hi,
So our fixed rate ends in December and we’re wanting to move house ideally before the end of the year or at least be deep into the process. This is all so we can be in a new area for school applications (deadline January).
Issue is we both have some debt that needs to be gone first to get a mortgage in the price range we want but not possible as I’m on Mat leave so things are tighter at the moment. Yes forward planning would have better but shit happens and here we are!

My question is if we remortgage in the next couple of months and take some money out to pay our debts how soon after can we get a new mortgage to move house? Is there a time limit most lenders have? Or how common/easy is it to port a mortgage? Has anyone done this?

Don’t really wanna waste mortgage advisors time on just a couple of questions so any an advice/experience would be welcome. Thanks ☺️

When you get your remortgage just check that the new arrangement can be "ported" - a mortgage is said to be "ported" if the lender is ok with you moving and securing the existing loan on the new house instead, without any penalty charge. You then have a 2nd mortgage to cover any difference between the value of the old house and the new, and at some point you can remortgage both into a single new product when both terms expire.