Mortgage Affordability Calculator

UK mortgage lenders use income multiples as a starting point to determine how much you can borrow. The industry standard is 4.5 times your gross annual income. For a household earning £60,000, that means a maximum of £270,000 before other factors are considered. Some lenders will stretch to 5× for high earners or professionals, but these are specialist products with stricter eligibility criteria.

The stress test

The income multiple is only the first filter. Since 2014, lenders are required by the FCA to carry out a mortgage stress test — assessing whether you could still afford repayments if interest rates rose by approximately 3 percentage points above the initial rate. This stress test is typically applied to the reversion rate (usually the lender's Standard Variable Rate), not the product rate. The result is that your actual maximum mortgage may be lower than the income multiple suggests.

What else lenders assess

Beyond income and the stress test, lenders conduct a detailed review of your monthly outgoings: committed credit (loans, car finance, credit card minimums), childcare costs, utility bills, and general living expenses. High committed monthly debt significantly reduces the amount you can borrow regardless of your income. Speak to a whole-of-market broker who can identify lenders most likely to approve your specific circumstances.