How Accurate Are Mortgage Salary Multipliers?

The majority of people require a mortgage to purchase a property, especially now that house prices have skyrocketed. Whenever you’re browsing the property market, it’s useful to know how much you’re able to borrow from a mortgage provider and lots of buyers use mortgage salary multiples to get an indication of how much they’re able to spend on a new property. 

You shouldn’t solely rely on the rough estimate from a salary multiplier though and this could result in you falling in love with a property that is actually out of your budget. It is more beneficial to speak to a mortgage advisor and get an accurate estimate for lending. Below we have looked into mortgage salary multiples in more detail. 

What is a mortgage salary multiplier?

The term ‘mortgage salary multiplier’ is used when referring to multiplying your income to calculate the maximum amount a mortgage provider would lend to you. All mortgage providers want to know that you’re able to pay back the money you’re borrowing, as well as any added interest, so your income is really important to them. 

Generally speaking, when you’re borrowing by yourself, a mortgage lender is happy to lend you around 4 times your salary. If you’re borrowing with a partner, they would lend you approximately 4 times your joint income. However, these figures differ from one mortgage lender to another and some have higher or lower multipliers. 

Factors that affect how much a lender would offer you 

Mortgage salary multipliers are useful because they give you a rough figure that you can use when browsing the property market, yet there is a chance this figure would change. There are lots of different factors that impact how much a mortgage provider would lend you and these factors could have a significant impact on your future mortgage offers. 

In fact, more and more mortgage lenders are moving away from using mortgage salary multipliers and instead, they apply affordability rules. They take into consideration various other financial factors when deciding how much they’re willing to lend. So, two people with exactly the same incomes could borrow different amounts from mortgage providers. 

Some of the factors that influence how much you’re able to borrow when taking out a mortgage include; 

Number of hours worked

Whether you have a full-time or part-time job, or you’re self-employed or on a zero-hour contract, could impact your mortgage. Ultimately, the more secure your job seems, the less risky you are to lend to and having a fixed and reliable salary is desirable to mortgage providers. If you’re guaranteed a certain amount of money every month, you’re more likely to be able to make your mortgage payments and you shouldn’t fall behind on them. 

Overtime, commission and bonuses

If you frequently receive overtime pay, commission or bonuses, these would sometimes be taken into consideration by mortgage lenders. Generally speaking, if these additional payments make a big difference to your basic salary and you have been receiving them for a considerable amount of time, mortgage providers would class them as regular income. Often, a few months' averages of these extra payments would be used when providing a mortgage offer. 

Monthly expenses and disposable income

It’s not just your income that mortgage providers are interested in, they look at your expenses too. Your regular monthly outgoings, such as car finances and other loans, would be considered by a mortgage lender as they may impact your ability to make mortgage repayments. Any outgoings that reduce your disposable income may be taken into account when you’re applying for a mortgage and they could impact your mortgage rates. 

Finding out how much you could borrow on a mortgage

Should you be curious about how much you could borrow from a mortgage provider and you would like to speak to a mortgage advisor, don’t hesitate to contact us at Mortgage Required. We will be happy to help you and we provide whole of market mortgage advice to our customers. We understand how important it is to know how much you’re able to borrow when you’re browsing the property market and we can help you to get the mortgage agreement in principle you need. We pride ourselves on delivering first-class customer service and we can assure you that you will be in the best hands with our expert team.