The size of your mortgage loan, alongside your deposit, will determine the maximum property value you could afford, so, understandably, it’s important to know from the outset.We look at how the size of your loan is calculated by lenders, how to use a mortgage calculator and what to do if you can’t borrow as much as you’d hoped.
Last updated on
May 9, 2025 17:03
There are a number of factors that impact how much you can borrow for a mortgage. You can use our mortgage calculator to get a rough estimate of your expected loan amount, but as all lenders have different criteria and calculation methods, getting a mortgage agreement in principle can give you a clearer idea of what a lender might be willing to offer, though it’s still subject to change following a full application and property assessment.
To calculate the loan they're willing to offer you, lenders generally multiply your income by around 4.5, although it can be more or less than this depending on their own practices and your personal circumstances.
In order to determine the income multiple they might offer you, they’ll look at your deposit size, which will determine the LTV of your loan, as well as:
While 4.5 times your salary is average, lenders assess borrowers based on risk, so those with high risk applications are likely to be offered a lower multiple, whereas some borrowers may be able to borrow more.
For example, borrowers with professional qualifications, such as doctors and lawyers, as well as high net worth individuals, may be able to borrow as much as 6 times their income, depending on the lender’s criteria. Higher multiples are rare and usually limited to specific high-income or professional profiles.
Some lenders are also more generous than others, so some may lend up to 5.5 times a borrower’s income under specific conditions, such as professional status or high income.
Mortgage calculators are usually built to either show you how much you can borrow, or how much your monthly mortgage repayments will be, or in some cases, both.
The thing to remember about mortgage calculators is that they can only work based on the information that you enter, so they will assume that all applicants have perfect credit. Usually, this also means that the income multiple used will be standard, not personalised to your own circumstances. This means that it won’t necessarily be accurate.
However, for a ballpark idea, our Habito mortgage calculator is a helpful tool in the planning stages of your mortgage application.
Simply enter your income and deposit amount and it will do the rest.
Once you’ve got your deposit together and are ready to get an accurate idea of how much you could borrow, get in touch with our friendly team.
No, they don’t require enough information to do one, so this isn’t possible. You won’t even have to enter your name unless you want to go ahead with a mortgage in principle.
We have a number of mortgage calculators available, so the most suitable one depends on what you want to find out:
To find out how much you could borrow to buy your own home, use our mortgage calculator
To find out how much your mortgage will cost, use our mortgage repayment calculator
To see how much you could borrow when you remortgage, use our remortgage calculator
If you’re buying an investment property to rent out, use our buy-to-let calculator
To see how much stamp duty you’ll need to pay, use our stamp duty calculator
While it might feel like we’re covering old ground here, it’s important to understand that how much you can borrow and how much you can afford are distinct questions. It’s easy enough to be financially sensible in the run up to your mortgage application in order to maximise how much you can borrow - but only you know whether that lifestyle is sustainable in the long term.
Keep in mind that interest rates can rise, so even if you have a fixed rate mortgage for the first 5 years, you might end up paying more than you expect when you come to remortgage onto a new deal after that.
Only you can answer this question, but in reality, it’s always wise to only borrow what you can comfortably pay back. It’s important to leave a bit of ‘wiggle room’ in your budget for an emergency fund, lifestyle changes and growing costs. It’s difficult to predict the future, and a mortgage is usually the largest debt you’ll ever have.
If you’ve already got your eye on a dream home, but don’t qualify to borrow enough for it, there are sometimes ways to maximise your borrowing. However, in some cases, you might be better off reapplying down the line, when you’re more able to meet the criteria of a larger loan.
Keep in mind that all lenders have different criteria and loan limits, so it may be possible to borrow more with another lender. We can search the whole market for you to see which lender is likely to make the best use of your income.
Other ways you might be able to borrow more are:
Our mortgage repayment calculator can help you figure out what your monthly repayments are. However, remember that this is a guide and your exact repayments will depend on what type of mortgage and the interest rate that you get.
Most lenders have LTV bands of around 5%, which means that if you’re close to the next increment, for example, you’re borrowing 71% LTV, offering a slightly larger deposit could push you down to 70% LTV.
For retired people, the amount you can borrow will still depend on your incomings and outgoings. That means making sure your pension pot, your workplace pension, or your investments can cover the costs of a mortgage.
However, lenders tend to be a little more hesitant when lending to people who are retired or soon-to-be-retired. That’s because you’re less likely to have a regular income.
You can use our buy-to-let mortgage calculator to get an idea of what you may be able to borrow for an investment property. This is usually based on the rental potential of the property, rather than your own income.
If you have bad credit, many lenders will reduce the maximum LTV or income multiple they’re willing to offer you. However, if you’re able to provide a larger deposit to balance the risk, this may not always be the case.
There are plenty of lenders that specialise in bad credit mortgage applications, so be sure to speak to a broker, like ourselves, if you think that this applies to you.
Last updated: 28/04/2025
[Disclaimer] This content is intended for general guidance and is not a substitute for personalised mortgage advice.
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