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How much can I borrow: mortgage calculator

Calculate how much mortgage you'll be able to borrow to buy a home based on your income.
Stephen Maunder

Mortgage borrowing calculator

If you're hoping to take out a mortgage, our borrowing calculator will give you a rough idea of how much a lender might offer you based on how much you earn and whether you're buying with anyone else.

How do lenders decide how much I can borrow?

Your salary will have a big impact on the amount you can borrow for a mortgage.

Usually, banks and building societies will offer up to four-and-a-half times the annual income of you and anyone you are buying with. This means if you're buying alone and earn £30,000 a year, you could be offered up to £135,000.

There are exceptions to this, however. Some banks offer bigger home loans to borrowers who have higher earnings, bigger deposits, or work in specific professions. If you qualify, you may be able to borrow up to five-and-a-half times your income.

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What other factors impact how much I can borrow?

Monthly outgoings

Lenders will want to know how you spend your money as part of an affordability assessment. You are likely to get questions about:

  • Debt repayments (e.g. student loans and credit card bills)
  • Regular bills (e.g. gas and electricity)
  • Transport costs
  • Grocery costs
  • Spending on leisure activities

Your lender may also request recent bank statements and payslips to support your application.

Read our guide to saving for a mortgage deposit to find out more about keeping outgoing costs down. 

Interest rates

Interest rates play a key role in how much you might be able to borrow.

In most cases, lenders will 'stress test' any proposed mortgage repayment plan to make sure you could withstand a rise in interest rates.

Use our mortgage interest rate rise calculator to see how your mortgage payments would be affected if your interest rate increased.

If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, interest rate rises won't affect you until the end of your fixed-rate period. But with a variable-rate mortgage, your interest rate could rise or fall at any point during your term.

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