Mortgage Borrowing Calculator UK

A mortgage borrowing calculator shows how much you could borrow based on your income. UK lenders typically lend 4.5 times income as standard, 5 to 5.5 times for higher earners on enhanced tiers, 6 times through professional and high-earner schemes, and 6.5 times for joint applicants earning £150,000 or more. The calculator below models all four tiers side by side, including bonus and vesting stock income, so you can see what the right lender could offer rather than the high street default.

How much can I borrow for a mortgage?

Most UK lenders will lend 4.5 times your annual income as a starting point. Higher earners can access 5.5 times income from mainstream lenders, 6 times income through professional and high-earner schemes where income exceeds £60,000, and 6.5 times joint income where a couple earns £150,000 or more. Private banks lending under the FCA's high net worth exemption are not bound by standard caps at all.

The difference is not academic. On a £95,000 assessable income, 4.5 times produces £427,500 and 6 times produces £570,000. Same person, same payslips, £142,500 apart. What we see most weeks is a buyer who has been told a number by their own bank and assumed it was the market answer. It rarely is.

Which lenders offer 5x, 5.5x and 6x income mortgages?

The market splits into four tiers, and the right one depends on income level, profession and how you are paid.

Rates and lender criteria are subject to change. Figures correct at time of publication. Always speak to your broker for up to date rates and lending criteria on your specific case.

Our blog on lenders offering 6x income covers the qualifying rules in detail.

How do lenders treat bonus, commission and RSU income?

Standard lenders typically count 50% of a two-year bonus average on top of basic salary. Some enhanced tiers take more with consistent history. Vesting stock is where the market really divides: most high street lenders ignore RSUs entirely, while specialist lenders and private banks will assess 50% to 75% of a vesting schedule, occasionally more for established plans at listed companies.

The cases we find hardest to place are not high incomes. They are incomes paid in the wrong shape for the lender reading them: heavy bonus, light salary, or stock that vests quarterly in dollars. Around a third of the high-earner cases we look at have been declined or under-offered elsewhere purely because bonus and stock were discounted too hard. Presenting the same income to a lender whose policy fits it is the whole job.

If your bonus is paid in USD, EUR or another currency, lenders apply a further FX haircut. Our foreign currency bonus page explains how that works, and our RSU income page covers vesting stock in detail.

How do financial commitments reduce borrowing?

Lenders deduct committed outgoings before applying any multiple. Car finance, personal loans, credit card balances that will not clear on completion, school fees and maintenance all reduce the income a lender will assess. As a rough rule, every £500 per month of committed spending removes somewhere between £25,000 and £40,000 of borrowing, depending on the lender's model. The calculator above deducts annualised commitments from assessable income, which is the conservative end of how lenders do it.

One operational point worth acting on: clear or consolidate short-term credit before you apply, not after. A £400 per month car PCP can cost you more borrowing than it cost you car.

What income multiple can high earners get?

Earners above £60,000 unlock 6 times income at a small group of lenders, and joint applicants above £150,000 can reach 6.5 times. Above £300,000 of income, or £3 million of net assets, borrowers meet the FCA's high net worth definition under the FCA high net worth definition. At that point private banks can lend outside standard affordability caps altogether, assessing the whole balance sheet: salary, bonus history, carried interest, vesting stock and investment portfolios.

Bank of England data shows lending above 4.5 times income is capped at 15% of each lender's new mortgage flow, which is why the higher multiples are rationed and criteria-led rather than advertised. That cap is also why the difference between lenders is so wide at the top end: each one chooses where to spend its allowance.

How is this different from a full affordability assessment?

Income multiples are the ceiling; affordability is the floor. Every lender also runs your income and outgoings through an affordability model under MCOB 11.6, stress-testing the payments at a higher rate. A multiple tells you what a lender is willing to consider. The affordability model tells you what it will actually sign off. For most straightforward cases the two land close together; for bonus-heavy or commitment-heavy cases they can be a long way apart. Our guide to UK mortgage affordability rules covers the full assessment, stress tests and the Bank of England's loan-to-income cap.

Frequently asked questions