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Borrowing

What lenders typically consider, and what shifts it.

Most lenders start from a multiple of income and work down from there. This gives you the range that multiple usually produces. It is a starting point for a conversation rather than an answer, because the things that move it most are the things a calculator cannot see.

How Much Can I Borrow?Live
Loans, cards, car finance. Not rent or bills.
Lenders would typically consider
—
Property price that reaches—
Implied income multiple—

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Send us these figures and an adviser will tell you what is genuinely achievable, and which lenders suit your situation.

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Illustrative only. This is a general income multiple, not a lending decision, an agreement in principle or a recommendation. What a lender will actually offer depends on a full assessment of your circumstances.

What this sum cannot see

  • It assumes your income is salaried and paid through PAYE. If you are self-employed, a company director or a contractor, lenders use quite different methods and the answer can move a long way in either direction.
  • Bonus, commission and overtime are treated inconsistently. Some lenders count all of it, some half, some none. If a meaningful part of your pay sits there, this figure is unreliable.
  • It does not know your credit history. Missed payments, defaults or a recent change of job narrow which lenders will look at you, and that matters more than the multiple.
  • It ignores dependants and childcare, which several lenders deduct before they get anywhere near a multiple.

Every one of those is a question an adviser answers in a phone call. Send us your figures and we will tell you what they mean for you. Or read more about First-Time Buyer.

Borrowing, answered

How do lenders decide how much I can borrow?

Most start from a multiple of income, commonly between four and four and three quarter times, then reduce it for credit commitments and dependants and stress the payment against a higher rate than the one you are offered.

Does a bigger deposit let me borrow more?

Not usually. The deposit sets which rates you can reach rather than the size of the loan, though at a very small deposit some lenders cap the multiple they will allow.

I am self-employed. Is this figure any use?

Treat it as a rough starting point. Lenders assess self-employed income in several different ways, and the same accounts can produce noticeably different answers depending on which method is used.

Is this an agreement in principle?

No. It is arithmetic on the figures you typed. An agreement in principle involves a lender looking at your credit file and your actual circumstances.

Request assistance

Send these figures to an adviser

Your figures come with the enquiry. These few extra answers cover what the calculator cannot know.

  • One of the five advisers on Eastfield Road, not a call centre.
  • Usually the same working day.
  • No obligation, and nothing to sign at the end of it.

Would rather talk now? Call 01733 602 033.

Please do not include medical or health details here. An adviser will go through those with you directly.