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.
- Find out more: check out our guide to how much mortgage you can borrow
Which? mortgage calculators
Use our mortgage calculator toolkit for help with your research on buying a home or remortgaging.
- Mortgage repayment calculator Work out how much your monthly repayments will cost.
- Loan to value (LTV) calculator Check your LTV based on the property value and amount of deposit or equity you have.
- Mortgage deposit calculator Find out how long it will take you to save enough deposit to buy a property in your chosen area.
- Stamp duty calculator Calculate how much tax you'll need to pay when buying a home.
- Mortgage overpayment calculator Discover how much quicker you could pay off your mortgage by overpaying and how much you could save.
How to find the right mortgage deal for you
We regularly sift through thousands of deals on the market to find the best mortgage rates for first-time buyers, home movers and those planning to remortgage.
You can also use our unique research on the best mortgage lenders to see how customers rate banks on everything from the application process to the ease of managing their mortgage online and overall customer service.