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How much can I borrow? expandable section
How much you can borrow for your mortgage depends on various factors. Lenders will do an affordability assessment that looks at things such as:
- your income, e.g. salary, bonuses, benefits
- existing debts and bill payments, e.g. credit cards, loans, store cards
- any other outgoings and financial commitments, e.g. childcare, commuting costs
- how much deposit/equity you have
- your credit rating.
If you’re buying a house with another person, a lender will usually take their income into account when deciding how much you can borrow. Ourmortgage calculators can give you a rough idea of how much you could borrow for your mortgage. Getting an agreement in principle from a lender will give you a more accurate idea of how much they could be willing to lend you.
When applying for a mortgage, lenders will usually make sure you’ll be able to make repayments even if interest rates were to increase.
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How is my affordability assessed? expandable section
To assess your affordability for a mortgage, a lender will usually ask for proof of your income and any living expenses they need to consider.
They’ll also run a credit check to see if they’re happy you’ll be able to keep up your mortgage payments. The lender may ask you for supporting documentation during this stage. This can include proof of ID, address and income, and any extra information that may support your application.
You can use our mortgage calculators to see roughly how much you could borrow – they’re free to use and there are no credit checks made.
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What are mortgage interest rates? expandable section
Mortgage interest rates are, essentially, how much it costs to borrow money from a lender to buy a property. The higher the interest rate, the higher your monthly mortgage payments are likely to be.
The type of mortgage you have will determine the type of interest you pay. Fixed-rate mortgages generally come with a higher interest rate, while a variable mortgage will usually be lower but have no guarantee of your interest rates staying at this rate. With an interest-only mortgage, your monthly payments only pay the interest earned on the amount you borrowed. You don’t pay back any of the loan itself. The full loan must then be paid back at the end of the term.
Our mortgage calculators will show what mortgage rates are available to you and let you compare the monthly payments.
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Does using the mortgage calculators affect my credit score? expandable section
No, you can use all our mortgage calculators safe in the knowledge that your credit score won’t be affected. We don’t do any credit checks at this stage as the calculators are just to give you an idea of what your repayments might be. If you apply for a mortgage, then we will do a hard credit check - this may affect your credit score.
