How much could I borrow?

A starting range, so you know roughly what you are shopping for.

Most people begin a property search with a number in their head that came from somewhere unreliable. This gives you a better starting point: an indicative range based on the way mainstream lenders actually size a loan.

How much could I borrow?

How lenders decide

Income multiples

Most lenders work within four to four and a half times income, with a stretch tier above that for stronger applications: higher earners, certain professions, larger deposits. The multiple is the headline, not the decision.

Affordability

Underneath the multiple sits an affordability assessment. A lender models your actual monthly outgoings and then stress-tests the mortgage against a higher interest rate than the one you would pay, to check the payment would still be manageable if rates rose. Two applicants on identical incomes can be offered materially different amounts because of what sits underneath.

What reduces the figure

  • Loans, car finance and credit balances you are repaying
  • Dependants and childcare
  • Regular committed spending
  • Adverse credit history
  • Self-employed or variable income, which is usually averaged over two or three years

What helps

  • A larger deposit, which lowers the loan to value and opens better rates
  • Clearing short-term credit before you apply
  • A clean and settled credit file
  • A second applicant with income and few commitments

Deposit and loan to value

Your deposit does two things. It increases what you can buy, and it lowers the loan to value, which is what determines the rate you are offered. The bands matter: the difference between a 90% and an 85% loan to value is often worth more over a fixed term than the extra deposit cost you.

What this tool does not do

It is arithmetic, not an application. It does not know your credit file, your outgoings or the property you have in mind, and it does not account for the different way buy-to-let lending is assessed, which is based on rental cover rather than income.

Sable and Stone Real Estate is not a mortgage adviser and does not give regulated mortgage advice. This page is general information and is not a mortgage offer, a decision in principle, or a recommendation. Speak to an independent broker or lender authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority before you rely on any figure. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

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