First-Time Buyer Affordability Calculator
See how much you could borrow, your maximum property price, your likely deposit % and LTV band, and an indicative monthly repayment — from your income, deposit and commitments.
Estimate only. Estimate only, not a mortgage offer or financial advice. Actual affordability depends on individual lender criteria — speak to a mortgage adviser or broker before making decisions.
- Before commitments
- £135,000
- Deposit
- £30,000
Lenders typically price mortgages in 85% LTV tiers — the lower your LTV, the better the rates on offer.
Stamp Duty (England, first-time buyer)
Your maximum property price is within the 0% first-time buyer relief band, up to £300,000.
Get an exact figure with our Stamp Duty Calculator.At a 5.5% stress rate over 25 years — lenders test affordability at a higher rate than you'll actually pay, to check you could cope with rate rises.
Improving your position
- A bigger deposit doesn't just reduce what you borrow — it can move you into a lower LTV band with meaningfully better rates, so it's often worth saving a little longer.
- Clearing or reducing credit card and loan balances before you apply increases your borrowing power, since lenders reduce affordability for existing commitments.
- Get an Agreement in Principle from a lender (or broker) before you start viewing — it confirms roughly what you can borrow and shows sellers you're a serious buyer.
- A mortgage broker can compare deals across the whole market and often has access to rates and criteria you won't find by going direct to one lender.
This is a simplified affordability estimate for guidance only. Real lenders assess affordability individually — income, credit history, employment type, existing debts and outgoings all vary the amount you're actually offered.
How this is worked out
Lenders typically cap how much you can borrow at a multiple of your income — commonly 4x to 4.5x for most standard mortgages, occasionally up to 5.5x for certain products or professions. We multiply your combined income by your chosen multiple to get a maximum borrowing figure, then reduce it to reflect your monthly commitments (loans, credit cards, car finance), since lenders treat existing debt payments as reducing how much new mortgage borrowing you can service. Adding your deposit to the maximum borrowing gives your maximum property price, and dividing your deposit by that price gives your deposit percentage — 100% minus that is your loan-to-value (LTV), which lenders price in standard tiers such as 95%, 90% and 85%; a lower LTV (bigger deposit relative to the property price) generally unlocks better rates. For first-time buyers in England, Stamp Duty Land Tax has a 0% band up to £300,000, 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and the relief is withdrawn entirely (standard rates on the full price) above £500,000 — the same verified rates used throughout this site's Stamp Duty Calculator. Finally, the monthly repayment preview uses the standard capital-repayment mortgage formula at a "stress rate" — a higher rate than you'd actually be offered — which is how lenders check you could still afford repayments if rates rose.