To have thought our lower income was enough?

[BraOffPjsOn]

Ok so after all these posts where people with huge monthly incomes are worried about a mortgage payment, am I being mad to think that an income (after tax monthly) of around £3500 is enough for a mortgage of around £1200-1300?

I had thought it would be ok but after those posts I feel like maybe I’m wrong!

That’s the same as we pay with an income of circa 150k pre tax and I couldn’t imagine having paid that as a mortgage years ago when our income was lower.

Our council tax and bills are really high too. I think I’d aim to up your joint income first as 35k after tax is really low - particularly with a larger house and as your children get older

The average for men in their 40s is around £46k though so £57k isn't a huge amount - not a low earner bit not massively high either.

Our income is about £2000 a month take home. We don't have cars or childcare.

For the first time ever, we've started to feel the pinch. I've signed up to regular overtime now which I've never felt the need to do before.

I should also say that going to your max borrowing limit is never a good idea. It doesn't allow for any wriggle room when life happens.

Our mortgage is a similar amount but we take home a fair bit more. We have our own business so take out what we need, as and when, but it probably amounts to £5.5k a month. We are not extravagant and I shop in lidl. Kids do a fair amount of stuff and I like nice clothes plus holidays.

I find this bonkers!

We live in the SE. Our mortgage is 1650. We dont have any childcare bills and have a primary aged child. One international 5 day break a year and one UK week staycation. No car finance.

We bring home 4500 so our mortgage is 37% of our income. We pay this fine. And save 700 a month. TBF we rarely buy new clothes although we do have a massage each every month and hubby has therapy fortnightly which is pricey

What is your monthly mortgage payment if you don’t mind me asking?

Yes but that is like saying the average woman weighs 150kg (made that figure up, clearly) - it doesn’t make someone who is 120kg healthy nor does it make someone on £50k wealthy.
Given how much literally everything has shot up in price, except wages, £37.5k average annual income is not what it was 2 years ago and many would struggle, esp in certain parts of the country.

(quote fail!)

YANBU as life doesn't need a huge wage to be worth living and buying a home.

BUT.... it's only feasible to borrow at those limits on that salary IF you can fix a rate for a decent period of time, have fantastic income security, and forseeable ongoing low other ougoings. So probably best avoided.

I think for most people that is unrealistic. Property prices make that unattainable for many.

This is a very good suggestion.

I have overpaid our mortgage to that amount on a similar income.

I could manage fine month on month but I would worry about being committed to it for 25 years. There's not much wiggle room for big expenses like car repairs or maintenance costs.

I'd feel more comfortable in a newish house with lower energy costs and less likely to need major upkeep. Which ours is not!

There are plenty of people living in London on minimum wage as well

I think it will be tight so it’s all about your priorities. Do your kids have hobbies and clubs? Do you want to go on holiday? Have a car? Etc. The maths is fine if the answer is that the house is your priority, but it’s above the recommendations as most people want some leftover for other things (in a perfect world of course!)

We hadn’t entirely understood how much more expensive it is to have a larger house. First world problem of course but there’s always something that needs to be fixed, it’s much more expensive to heat, when we had to get new carpets it was a lot more than at our old house, council tax etc etc etc. We had a huge challenge when the mortgage rates went up. So just look at everything really carefully as you’ll definitely be sacrificing for the house.

I suspect a lot of people here buy only the most expensive caviar when they're out shopping for caviar.

@BraOffPjsOn - I think “enough” is a very relative term and unique to each person. For some people is enough and for others it isn’t. I think the best is not compare.

I saw that thread, it was £47k and the OP was a SAHM. They were splitting, and she thought that he should easily be able to fund two separate households given his massive massive income. That’s why people were saying it wasn’t much.

Thanks OP, this is really helpful. There's me & DD5. I've recently separated from her Dad and we're selling the family home. My take home is ~£3000 and I get another ~£400 from cms & child benefit. I'm hoping that with equity i can get a mortgage of around £1000 a month. I own my (old) car outright, wraparound is £100 a month. Im looking for a newish build to avoid unexpected costs. Its more than I'd like but less than a similar rental.

Household income of 65K before tax, pensions, NI and Student Loan. After it’s much less. I earn 40k but have earnt much less in the past. Earning more meens my out goings are far more than when I worked for minimum wage. Have to run a car for my job as part of my contract, have to pay £100 a month to student loans and can’t get help with childcare costs etc. At minimum wage I didn’t need to run a car, didn’t pay student loans and got significant help with childcare. Taking all that into account what comes in now is financially the same as when I worked for minimum wage.

We can have up to 325k mortgages for a house but just couldn’t afford the repayments on this or for me to take maternity. Plus would need a very long mortgage and I would struggle to do full time hours in my job at 67! Whilst we might just manage the repayments we would have very little ability to save for any issues with a house.

Looking at spending 160K-200k on a house. We would afford the repayments, take an 25 year mortgage meening we could reduce hours towards end of our working ahe and be able to save some money for any issues such as boiler/roof etc. This would still put us at needing to find an extra £300-£400 a month.

Most my friends with very lovely houses have paid very little off as they constantly remortgage and take money back to pay for maintenance. It all got to be paid in the end.

It depends on your lifestyle and circumstances doesn't it. At one point my mortgage was £1200 and my monthly income was £2400. It was completely fine. All my bills were only about £300 back then and as a single person with no dependents, no car, no commuting costs and spending about £40/wk on food I had plenty of money for holidays, savings and all the hobbies I wanted to do.

If my income and mortgage was that now, with the much higher cost of living, kids, car, husband etc I'd be massively struggling.

It’s a bit higher than I’d personally go, but still doable. We are a family of 4 and spend an average of 2500 per month excluding mortgage. No childcare bills.

You’re not mad at all — £3,500 after tax with a £1,200–£1,300 mortgage is generally manageable, assuming no major debts or unusually high expenses. That’s around 35% of your take-home pay, which is well within most lenders’ affordability criteria.

A lot of the posts you’re seeing probably involve people with much higher lifestyle costs, childcare fees, or debt commitments — context matters. If your other expenses are reasonable, you’re likely in a good position. Don’t let other people’s panic shake your confidence unnecessarily.

My take home is 4.7k - I work 4 days a week.😀 (v lucky)
DH not currently working. We don’t have to pay for cars / kids care as kids / cars are old!
We don’t live like lords but are OK.we have 38k in savings (redundancy payment) when DH is working i think we’ll save almost all that. Mortgage on a 500k house is 600 a month. I’m going to overpay it so I can retire early ! I’m also oh so v tired 😭

Sorry - just realised what you’re asking. When the kids were little out mortgage was £750 a month, DH was on 25k. The youngest was sick and I was at home minding them.
there were many days hours - it was really really tough. I wish you well - there’s a light there!

I wouldn’t be comfortable with that, but I don’t think it’s impossible. It’s a “we could manage if we’re careful” situation, rather than a comfortable one or one where you’re building savings.

Once you’ve paid the essential bills, it doesn’t leave a lot of money for things like days out, clothing, emergency repairs, savings etc.

Our take home is around 4200, just a couple with no kids, I wouldn't be comfortable with a mortgage as high as that... Ours is around 750 currently.

Although I'm liking this thread saying actually it's fine, because no doubt when we remortgage, our mortgage will get as high as that 😁 we don't have any other huge outgoings, I just like to be able to save lots and feel secure.