What mortgage can I get on my salary?
UK lenders commonly start with a loan of around 4 to 4.5 times the applicants' combined gross income. Some lend 5 times income or more in narrower cases. That first number is only a ceiling: the deposit, regular debts, loan term, interest rate and the lender's own affordability test can all reduce it.
| Annual salary | 4x | 4.5x | 5x |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £80,000 | £90,000 | £100,000 |
| £30,000 | £120,000 | £135,000 | £150,000 |
| £40,000 | £160,000 | £180,000 | £200,000 |
| £50,000 | £200,000 | £225,000 | £250,000 |
| £60,000 | £240,000 | £270,000 | £300,000 |
| £70,000 | £280,000 | £315,000 | £350,000 |
| £100,000 | £400,000 | £450,000 | £500,000 |
How many times my salary can I borrow?
4.5 times household income is a useful upper estimate, not a promise. At that multiple, a £30,000 salary points to a £135,000 mortgage, £40,000 to £180,000 and £50,000 to £225,000 before the lender checks the rest of the application. Use the calculator above for a payment and deposit check rather than relying on the multiple alone.
What salary do I need for a £200,000 or £250,000 mortgage?
At 4.5 times income, a £200,000 mortgage needs roughly £44,445 of combined gross income and a £250,000 mortgage roughly £55,556. A lender can require more if you have debts, dependants, a short term or other committed spending.
| Mortgage | Minimum gross income |
|---|---|
| £100,000 | £22,223 |
| £150,000 | £33,334 |
| £200,000 | £44,445 |
| £250,000 | £55,556 |
| £300,000 | £66,667 |
| £400,000 | £88,889 |
What percentage of salary should go on a mortgage?
There is no universal safe percentage because the payment comes from take-home pay while lenders quote income multiples against gross pay. MoneyHelper says people commonly spend 28% to 35% of income on a mortgage, but also says there is no single percentage everyone should target. This calculator shows the payment as a share of net monthly income and adds an illustrative payment at a rate 3 percentage points higher. That scenario is a household resilience check, not a prediction of the rate or amount a lender will use.
The multiple is a ceiling, not a target
The Bank of England's flow limit is designed to keep mortgages at or above 4.5 times income to no more than 15% of new lending in aggregate. Individual lenders and products vary, but 4.5x remains a useful working ceiling. Run the numbers at that maximum and the monthly payment comes to 36% of take-home pay at £30,000, rising to 49% at £150,000. It rises with income, because the multiple is applied to gross while the payment comes out of net. In this page's three-point-higher illustration, it reaches two thirds.
That is not a coincidence, it is what the ceiling means: it is the point at which lending stops, not the point at which it is comfortable. If you want the payment under a third of your net pay, you are looking at roughly 3.5x, not 4.5x. The full arithmetic is in 4.5× is a ceiling, not a budget.
Why two salaries beat one
Two people earning £30,000 each and one person earning £60,000 will be offered the same mortgage — the multiple is applied to gross household income either way. But the couple takes home more, because they get two personal allowances and two goes at the basic-rate band. Same loan, more money to pay it with.
How lenders test affordability
Lenders assess income, debts and regular spending, and many must consider the effect of likely interest-rate rises during the first five years. The FCA does not prescribe one uplift for every application: lenders can design their own approach, and an initial fixed rate lasting at least five years is generally exempt from that particular future-rate test. This page therefore shows a simple rate plus 3 percentage points scenario so you can see how your own monthly budget would respond. It does not reproduce any lender's underwriting model or predict a lending decision.
What the deposit really buys
A deposit does two things. It caps how much you can borrow at 95% of the price, and it decides which rate tier you land in. Lenders price in bands — 95%, 90%, 85%, 75%, 60% — and the gap between them is real money over 25 years. Getting from a 90% to an 85% deposit is often worth more than a pay rise.
Budgeting for repairs after you buy
A survey can turn up a boiler, rewiring, windows or other work that sits outside the mortgage payment. If you already have a contractor's price, GetFairPrice — another independent tool from the same maker — compares the quote with an indicative market range and gives you questions to ask before accepting it.
Sources and methodology
This is an independent planning illustration, last reviewed on 27 September 2026. It applies the selected income multiple and deposit limit, calculates a standard capital-and-interest payment, then compares that payment with estimated UK take-home pay. A lender will use its own product rules, credit checks and affordability model.
- MoneyHelper mortgage affordability guidance — income, spending, debts and the usual 4.5-times starting ceiling.
- FCA interest-rate stress-test rule — how lenders may assess likely future rate rises and when the rule does not apply.
- Bank of England Financial Stability Report, July 2026 — the current high loan-to-income flow limit and market context.