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Affordability calculator

What a residential lender will actually lend you, and which test stops it

The income multiple is the headline and it is very often not the binding constraint. Commitments, dependants and the stressed payment pull the answer below the multiple, and the lender lends the lower of the two. This shows both numbers, says which one is holding you back, and shows what changing it is worth.

For: A mortgage on somewhere to live, first or next

Tell us what you are looking forAll calculators
What comes in
£
Basic salary. Bonus, overtime and commission are usually counted at 50% and sometimes at 100%, which is one of the biggest differences between lenders.
£
£
Rental profit, a pension, maintenance under a court order. Lenders discount most of it, and some ignore it entirely.
×
Four and a half is the traditional cap and several major lenders now do 5.5 as standard. Six is available to higher earners and professionals, and seven exists on long fixes. Above 4.5 counts against a lender's own quarterly limit, which is why availability moves through the quarter.
What goes out
£
Loans, car finance, credit card minimums, school fees and maintenance. A card balance counts even if you clear it monthly, usually at 3% to 5% of the balance.
Each one reduces what a lender will advance by several thousand pounds, because it raises their assumed household expenditure.
The purchase
£
The stamp duty and the fees come out of this, not out of the loan, which is why the price it buys is lower than deposit plus loan.
yr
A longer term lends more and costs far more in total interest. It also has to end before a plausible retirement age, which is what caps it in practice.
%
Best buys currently run from about 4.50% at 60% loan to value to 5.25% at 95%. The affordability test uses this plus one, floored at 6.5%.
First-time buyer?
Relief takes the first £300,000 out of stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, and it is withdrawn entirely above £500,000.
What you could buy£207,027Borrowing £174,427 at 4.15 times your £42,000 of total income, with £35,000 of your own less £0 of stamp duty and about £2,400 of fees. The binding constraint is the affordability model, so clearing commitments is the answer rather than shopping around.
£174,427Loan
£907Monthly payment
84.3%Loan to value
6.50%Tested at
The two tests
On the income multiple£189,000
4.5 × £42,000.
On affordability£174,427
About £1,470 a month of surplus after tax, living costs and commitments, of which a lender will let you spend £1,103 on a mortgage tested at 6.50%. This is the one holding you back.
They lend the lower of the two£174,427
What that buys
Purchase price£207,027
£174,427 borrowed plus £35,000 of deposit, less £0 of stamp duty and about £2,400 of legal, survey and search fees, all of which come out of the deposit rather than the loan.
Deposit as a share of the price16.9%
Loan to value84.3%
Puts you in the 80 to 85% band, where the sharpest five year fix is 4.82%. Every band you drop through buys a better rate on the whole loan.
Monthly payment£907
Repayment over 30 years at 4.72%. That is 25.9% of gross income; above about 35% starts to feel tight whatever a lender says.
Payment at the stressed rate£1,103
6.50%. This is the payment the lender satisfies itself you could afford, and it is worth deciding for yourself whether you could.
What would move it
A lender at 5.5 times incomeNo change
No help here: affordability is binding, so a higher multiple changes nothing.
Clearing your commitments+£14,573
Every £100 a month of commitment costs you roughly £5,829 of borrowing. Settling a car loan six months before you apply is often the highest-return thing available.
Stretching the term to 35 years+£8,059
It lends more and costs much more in total interest, and the term has to end before a plausible retirement age. A cash flow decision rather than a saving.
Where these figures come from

Multiples. Several major lenders now do 5.5 times income as standard, with 6 to 6.5 available to specific profiles and 7 on some long fixes. The Bank of England's loan-to-income flow limit caps the proportion of a lender's new lending at or above 4.5 times to 15% per quarter, which is why availability tightens late in a quarter; the Bank consulted in April 2026 on removing that limit entirely.

Rates. Best buy rates as at early September 2026 run from 4.50% at 60% loan to value to 5.25% at 95%. Bank Rate is 3.75%.

The affordability model here is a simplified surplus calculation, stated rather than hidden: take-home at roughly 72% of gross, less an assumed household expenditure that rises with a second applicant and with each dependant, less your commitments, with a quarter of the remainder held back, tested at the higher of your rate plus one and 6.5%. Real lenders use their own household expenditure figures and their own stress rules, so treat this as the shape of the answer rather than the answer.

An estimate of what a mainstream residential lender would advance, and the spread between lenders on the same case is wide: employment type, how bonus and commission are treated, credit history, visa status and the property itself all move it, and none of those is modelled here. Self-employed income is usually averaged over two or three years, and under two years of accounts narrows the lender list sharply rather than closing it. This is a residential calculation: a buy to let loan is sized on the rent rather than on your income, which is a different calculator. Nothing here is a decision in principle and no credit search has been run. The mortgage comes from a regulated broker or lender.

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