GB United Kingdom · Housing affordability

How much house can I afford in the UK?

A household in the UK earning GBPa year, with GBPin savings available, can afford ...
Maximum purchase price . FCA affordability assessment
GBP 203k
Bound by your income (4.5x multiple) · GBP 183k mortgage on GBP 20k down
The two rules

The UK has two rules. Both must be met.

UK lenders are bound by the Bank of England's FPC cap on loan-to-income multiples and their own affordability stress tests. The 4.5x income multiple is the hard ceiling — but without a sufficient deposit, you cannot get on the ladder at all.

4.5x
Maximum income multiple
The FPC caps most new mortgages at 4.5 times gross household income. Max 15% of a lender's flow can exceed this. In practice, 4.5x is the ceiling for the vast majority of borrowers.
loan <= income x 4.5
10%
Minimum deposit
While 5% mortgages exist (via the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme), 10% is the practical minimum for competitive rates. 20%+ unlocks the best deals and avoids higher lending charges.
deposit >= 0.10 x price
Have a place in mind?

Drop in a price and see where it fails.

Each test is independent: you need to clear both. The 4.5x income rule limits the size of your mortgage; the deposit rule ensures you have cash upfront.

GBP
GBP 100kGBP 5M
1 of 2 tests fail.
✕4.5x income ruleshort GBP 10k
You have GBP 45k/yrNeed GBP 55k/yr
✓10% depositpass
You have GBP 35kNeed GBP 25k
The lever you can actually pull

Two ceilings. Whichever is lower wins.

With your savings fixed, the price you can afford scales linearly with income — until the deposit rule starts to bind. Above the kink, more salary will not buy you a bigger place; more savings will.

00.4M0.8M1.1M1.5M50k100k150k200k250k300kgross household income (GBP / year)10% deposit . GBP 350kIncome limit . 4.5x ruleYou · GBP 203k
What you can affordIncome limit (5.6× gross)Total down (5× cash + pension)
Your monthly budget

What you would actually pay each month.

UK lenders stress-test at ~6.5%, but you pay the actual rate. Your monthly payment at 5% over 30 years is significantly lower than the stress-test figure — that margin is your buffer against rate rises.

Stress test (6.5%)1,500 / monthActual payment (5%)1,271 / month
Monthly headroom
229
The stress test charges you 1.2× what you will actually pay. That spread is what you have, in theory, to absorb a rate cycle, or invest, if you would rather.
Where this lands you

Median 3-bed house, by city.

Your purchase-price ceiling (drawn in cyan) cuts across the price of a typical 3-bedroom house in the UK's major cities. Cities above the line are out of reach without more income or more savings.

London
GBP 525k
Cambridge
GBP 450k
Oxford
GBP 440k
Brighton
GBP 400k
Bristol
GBP 340k
Edinburgh
GBP 310k
Manchester
GBP 250k
Birmingham
GBP 230k
Leeds
GBP 220k
Newcastle
GBP 185k
Liverpool
GBP 175k
Within reachOut of reachYour ceiling · GBP 203k
Before you sign

This is probably the largest financial commitment of your life.

A home purchase is not just the price tag. There are significant costs on top that are not included in the affordability test above.

5-12%
Stamp duty (SDLT)
Stamp Duty Land Tax is tiered: 0% up to GBP 250k, 5% on GBP 250k-925k, 10% on GBP 925k-1.5M, 12% above. First-time buyers get 0% up to GBP 425k. On a GBP 350k house, that is GBP 5,000 in stamp duty.
3-5k
Solicitor, survey & fees
Conveyancing solicitor fees (GBP 1,000-2,000), survey/valuation (GBP 500-1,500), mortgage arrangement fees (GBP 500-2,000), and searches add up fast. Budget GBP 3,000-5,000 minimum for these transaction costs.
?
Council tax & leasehold risks
Council tax (GBP 1,200-4,000+/year depending on band and location) is an ongoing cost. If buying a flat, check the lease length — under 80 years is a red flag. Ground rent, service charges, and potential cladding remediation costs can be nasty surprises.

None of this means you should not buy. It means you should go in with open eyes. The affordability test tells you what you can do. Whether you should depends on how long you plan to stay, your career stability, and the local market.

For scale

What else costs about GBP 203k?

  • A studio flat in Zone 2, London · GBP 300k0.68×
  • A brand-new Range Rover Sport · GBP 80k2.54×
  • Four years of Oxbridge tuition and living costs · GBP 75k2.71×
  • Maxing out your ISA allowance (GBP 20,000/year) for 10 years · GBP 200k1.02×
  • A two-bed terraced house in Liverpool · GBP 150k1.36×
  • GBP 600/month invested at 6% real for 20 years (final portfolio value) · GBP 290k0.70×
  • A 3-bed semi in Manchester · GBP 250k0.81×
  • A Georgian townhouse in Bath · GBP 550k0.37×
  • A Jaguar F-Type R and a year of insurance · GBP 105k1.94×
See the full income x deposit matrix
income (down) / savings (right)
GBP 30k
GBP 60k
GBP 100k
GBP 200k
30,000/yr
GBP 136k
income-bound
GBP 136k
income-bound
GBP 136k
income-bound
GBP 136k
income-bound
50,000/yr
GBP 226k
income-bound
GBP 226k
income-bound
GBP 226k
income-bound
GBP 226k
income-bound
80,000/yr
GBP 300k
deposit-bound
GBP 362k
income-bound
GBP 362k
income-bound
GBP 362k
income-bound
120,000/yr
GBP 300k
deposit-bound
GBP 542k
income-bound
GBP 542k
income-bound
GBP 542k
income-bound
180,000/yr
GBP 300k
deposit-bound
GBP 600k
deposit-bound
GBP 814k
income-bound
GBP 814k
income-bound
Gross income used. 30-year term, stress test at 6.5%.
Next steps

Tools and guides to get you there.

Mortgage calculatorBuild an amortization schedule with extra payments. See total interest and how fast you pay it off.CalculateSavings goal plannerSet your down-payment target and a deadline. We back-solve the monthly savings rate you need.PlanCompound interestSee how your down-payment savings grow over time. Visualize the difference one extra year makes.ProjectBuying your first homeA step-by-step guide covering down payments, mortgage options, and the true cost of homeownership.Read
Frequently asked
The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) recommends that no more than 15% of a lender's new mortgage lending should be at loan-to-income (LTI) ratios of 4.5 or above. In practice, this means 4.5x gross household income is the effective ceiling for most borrowers. Some high-earners or professionals may obtain slightly higher multiples, but they are the exception.
Lenders must check that you could still afford repayments if interest rates rise. Typically, they stress-test at their standard variable rate (SVR) plus a buffer of around 3 percentage points, or a floor rate of approximately 6-7%. The FCA formally removed the fixed +3% requirement in 2022, but most lenders continue to apply a similar buffer voluntarily. This stress test is what actually limits borrowing — more so than the 4.5x multiple for many applicants.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme closed to new applications in England in October 2022 and final completions ended in March 2023. However, the government's Mortgage Guarantee Scheme supports 95% LTV mortgages (5% deposit) by providing a partial government guarantee to lenders. First-time buyers also benefit from stamp duty relief — 0% on the first GBP 425,000 of purchase price. Shared Ownership and Lifetime ISAs remain available as alternative routes to homeownership.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland is tiered: 0% up to GBP 250,000, 5% from GBP 250,001 to GBP 925,000, 10% from GBP 925,001 to GBP 1,500,000, and 12% above GBP 1,500,000. First-time buyers pay 0% up to GBP 425,000 and 5% from GBP 425,001 to GBP 625,000 (no relief above GBP 625,000). Second homes attract a 5% surcharge on top. Scotland has LBTT and Wales has LTT — slightly different rates and bands.
In the UK, freehold means you own the property and the land it sits on outright. Leasehold means you own the property for a fixed period (often 99-999 years) but the land belongs to a freeholder, and you pay annual ground rent plus service charges. Flats in England are almost always leasehold. Leases under 80 years become hard to mortgage and expensive to extend. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 aims to make it cheaper and easier to extend leases and buy the freehold, but implementation is ongoing.
The UK has one of the widest regional house-price gaps in Europe. London's median 3-bed costs roughly 3x the price in Liverpool or Newcastle. This reflects decades of economic concentration in the South East, constrained housing supply (green belt restrictions, slow planning), and strong foreign investment demand in London. The gap means a household priced out of the South can often afford a larger home in the Midlands or North — but with a very different job market and commute trade-off.

Affordability formula uses FCA/FPC rules: 4.5x gross income multiple, stress test at 6.5%, 30-year fully amortizing loan. Deposit assumes 10%. City prices indicative, sourced from ONS UK HPI / HM Land Registry 2025. Indicative only, not financial advice.

Source: FCA — Financial Conduct Authority, Mortgages and Home Finance