Discover how much you could borrow for your mortgage using Better.co.uk's calculator
Your home could be repossessed if you don't keep up repayments on your mortgage.
How much could you borrow?
Calculate how much you can borrow in the UK with our simple mortgage calculator. Calculate your monthly mortgage repayments to work out how much you could afford to borrow when moving house, remortgaging, or buying your first home.
You could borrow up to
You may have to pay an early repayment charge if you remortgage.
Your home could be repossessed if you don't keep up repayments on your mortgage.
This calculator is only an estimate of how much you may be able to borrow. Talk to a mortgage broker or lender to get a more accurate figure.
Your questions answered
You can usually borrow around 4 to 5 times your salary.
Some lenders offer up to 6 times your salary, but they will be very strict about who they lend this amount to.
Lenders have different rules and the income multiple they allow can depend on many things.
They include:
salary and source of income
using a government homeownership scheme
extra benefits (for example, Barclays offer Premier customers slightly higher income multiples)
deposit size
financial commitments and bills
age
length of mortgage
leasehold costs
Read our reviews of UK mortgage lenders to find out how much each lender may lend you.
Use our mortgage calculator to get an idea of how much you could borrow.
Mortgage calculators are a good way of finding out how much you might be able to borrow.
Calculators can only make an estimate, as they do not take everything into account. It’s important to know what they include to work out how much mortgage you can afford.
Each mortgage calculator is different, but basic online mortgage calculators will look at:
how many people are paying the mortgage
salaries
other income
mortgage type
mortgage length
interest rate
Most mortgage calculators do not look at:
monthly expenses
credit score
costs of getting a mortgage
interest rate changes
life changes such as losing your job
Unlike calculators, most lenders look at every issue that could affect your repayments.
You might also need to pass a lender’s ‘stress test’ before they’ll give you a mortgage.
This is to make sure you’ll be able to pay your mortgage if something happens that affects your repayments.
This could include:
losing your job
having a baby
being ill
a change in interest rates
To pass the stress test, lenders will look at your salary and other types of income such as pensions and investments.
Lenders also look at your credit history to see what type of borrower you are. This is called a credit check.
It could be a hard or soft credit check, depending on their rules. Learn the difference and how to improve your credit score in our credit score guide.
When a lender offers you a mortgage, they’ve decided how much they’ll lend you based on:
your salary
other income like investments
how much you can afford to pay
To decide how much you can afford to pay, a lender considers things like a rise in interest rates or if you lose your job.
Even if a lender thinks you can afford the full amount they’re offering, you should decide how much is right for you.
Some people borrow as much as they can.
Others may prefer to borrow less. This could be because of their personal situation, or how comfortable they are with risk.
Think about what’s best for you. You might lose your home if you do not keep paying your mortgage.
According to Better.co.uk's data, most people who get a mortgage to buy a property borrow between 2 and 4 times their income.
Generally, the average loan-to-income (LTI) ratio is higher in the south of the country where houses are more expensive.
If you’ve got bad credit the amount you can borrow depends on your personal situation.
A lender looks at your credit history to see how well you’ve managed debt before. This is known as a credit check.
If you have bad credit history some lenders will:
turn you down for a mortgage
ask for a bigger deposit
offer you a higher interest rate
Whether your credit history will affect your mortgage application depends on:
what the credit problem is
the amount
when it happened
Paying a gas bill late is not as serious as missing a mortgage payment or going bankrupt. This would stay on your credit report for six years.
It’s possible to explain to a lender how you got into debt.
For example, if you normally manage your finances and your debt is because of a life event such as divorce. In this case, a lender might not view your debt as seriously.
Speak to a mortgage broker to find out how your situation could affect how much mortgage you can borrow.
Learn how to get a mortgage with bad credit in our bad credit mortgage guide.
It is possible to get a mortgage with no deposit.
But most lenders want a deposit of at least 5% of the purchase price.
100% mortgages are usually linked to a relative’s or friend’s savings account.
Lenders who offer 100% mortgages include:
Barclays
Lloyds
Tipton & Coseley Building Society
With Lloyd’s Lend a Hand Mortgage, instead of putting down a deposit, a family member puts 10% of the purchase price into a 3-year fixed term savings account.
At the end of the 3 years, your family member will get their savings back with interest if you made all your payments.
The home is still yours. Your family member has no legal rights to it.¹
Government homeownership schemes could help you buy a home.
Find the right homeownership scheme for you using our tool.
Or learn more in our government homeownership scheme guide.
Types of mortgage calculators
Most basic mortgage calculators are affordability calculators, including our mortgage calculator.
They tell you how much you may be able to borrow with a mortgage.
You’re usually asked for:
salary
salary of anyone you’re buying with
deposit amount
The mortgage affordability calculator then works out how much you could borrow. It might also work out your monthly repayments.
A repayment calculator tells you how much your mortgage repayments could be each month.
It’s based on:
the amount you’re borrowing
how long you take your mortgage out for
the interest rate
fees
Overpayment calculators show you how much you could save if you make extra payments.
Making extra payments means you’ll pay off your mortgage quicker. Your mortgage will be cheaper in the long run as you’ll pay less interest.
Extra payments could be:
a lump sum, such as an inheritance
regular extra monthly payments, such as a salary increase
Not all mortgages let you make overpayments, so check with your broker or lender.
Stamp duty is a land tax. It’s often the second biggest cost of buying a home after your mortgage.
How much you pay depends on how much you pay for your home and where it is.
A stamp duty calculator works it out for you.
Stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland
You have to pay stamp duty on residential properties that cost more than £125,000.
There are different rules if you’re a first-time buyer. If the purchase price is £500,000 or less you’ll pay:
nothing on the first £300,000
5% on the rest up to £500,000
If the purchase price is more than £500,000 you pay the normal amount of stamp duty.
Stamp duty in Scotland
You do not pay stamp duty on the first £145,000 of the purchase price of your home.
First-time buyers do not pay it on the first £175,000.
Stamp duty in Wales
You do not pay stamp duty on the first £180,000 of the purchase price of your home.
There’s no discount for first-time buyers.
Learn more in our stamp duty calculator guide.
A remortgage calculator lets you know if you can save money by remortgaging. Either with your current lender or a new one.
There could be a better deal you could switch to and lower your current monthly repayments.
Work out how much you could save with a new mortgage deal using our remortgage calculator.
You’ll need to know:
how much your home is worth
how much you still owe on your mortgage
current monthly repayments
how long your mortgage is for
An interest only mortgage is one when you only pay the interest in your monthly repayments. This means they can be quite low.
You also need to have a plan in place to pay the loan at the end of your mortgage. For example selling your home, an endowment or investments.
An interest-only mortgage calculator works out how much your monthly mortgage repayments would be if you only paid the interest.
To use one, you need to know:
the interest rate
how long the mortgage is for
how much the mortgage is
A buy-to-let mortgage calculator works out how much you might be able to borrow based on your rental income.
Some buy-to-let calculators also tell you the expected monthly income from a buy-to-let property.
You’ll need to know your rental income and how much the property is worth to use one.
See our buy to let mortgage guide.
A help to buy mortgage calculator tells you how much you’ll need to borrow if you take out this government scheme.
You’ll need to put in your deposit, the purchase price and whether you live in England, Wales or Scotland.
It’ll then tell you what your Help to Buy loan would be, as well as your remaining mortgage.
Then work out what your monthly repayments might be using a normal mortgage calculator.
A commercial mortgage is a loan secured on property that you do not live in.
Businesses use them to buy a property. Or to release money from a building they already have to invest into the business.
To use a commercial mortgage calculator, you’ll often need the following information:
purchase price
mortgage amount
annual interest rate
lender arrangement fee
how long the mortgage will last
It’ll then work out:
your monthly mortgage payments
the arrangement fee
how much it will cost you if the mortgage runs to its end
An offset mortgage is when you link your mortgage to your current and saving accounts with the same lender.
Your total savings are taken off the amount of mortgage you pay interest on.
To use an offset mortgage calculator you’ll need to know the following:
property value
mortgage amount
how long the mortgage will be for
average current account balance
monthly savings
average savings interest rate
lump sums
tax band
The calculator will work out how much you could reduce the interest you pay or how long you pay your mortgage for.
When you buy a shared ownership home, you buy between 25% and 75% of its value and pay rent on the rest.
A shared ownership mortgage calculator lets you know how much you could borrow. As well as how much rent you’ll have to pay on the rest of the property.
You need to put in:
your salary
your outgoings
length of mortgage
deposit
Stamp Duty Calculator
Work out how much you might need to pay for stamp duty
Remortgage calculator
Calculate how much you could save if you remortgage to a new deal
Calculate your LTV
See what your loan-to-value ratio will be using our calculator
