How much mortgage to take

[justasmalltownmum]

How much mortgage are you comfortable in taking? Not how much you are entitled to, but how much you would feel is a comfortable number to be able to pay back.

thanks

£700 a month

It's hard to answer this question with so little information. It depends on: your income, your outgoings, how much youbwant to have left over for non-essentials, how secure your job is, how much yiu have in savings, and whether you are likely to have any/more children.

@justasmalltownmum

To balance homeownership with a comfortable lifestyle in 2026, it is generally recommended to allocate no more than 25% to 30% of your net monthly take-home pay solely to your mortgage payment.

@Selkie33 that’s an American link and I’m wondering if that’s comparable to the U.K. Maybe a few years ago 25% of net income was doable but I’m less sure in today’s market.

It depends on your outgoings. My children are all 18 plus now, and only one living at home. My new mortgage is around 38% of my single income but I have been paying that in rental for ages and managing to save a fair amount. If rates went up a lot, i’d have to consider a 2nd job if things got tough. Difficult when you’re on a single income.

THIS !

Mine is 40%!

Re mortgage next year . Hopefully the middle east stuff will have calmed rates by then !

In answer to original question, I am hoping to move but don't want to extend mine - scarily I am entitled to borrow more, but won't!

We are moving soon 🤞 and will go from the mortgage being 20% of our income to 30%
I think as long as you are still able to save each month and can pay for things if they break like cars and washing machines that’s ok.
it was also important for me to be able to afford a holiday.

Borrow as little as you can, so that you can save - and if possible overpay on the mortgage. Its important to regonise that what you pay back over the length of a mortgage is now much much more than it was. People sometimes dont think of it that way and just look at what they can currently afford monthly. Thats not wise with everything considered. Instead you should plan to pay off what you borrow in the shortest possible time frame - and in doing so you will save very considerably on the total repayment.
With inflation and borrowing rates going to go up again its important to have enough spare income to absorb that. If interest rates became low again that might be the time for the brave to stretch on a long fix. But I see no sign of that in the near future - the opposite is more likley. 20% of net income as a max would be my thinking in the current climate.

ah yes!, you're right

Current UK figures suggest 28%

We have an income of 7480 and our payments are 1900, about 300 of that is an overpayment though.

We currently pay 23% of our income, including an overpayment. I would not want it to be more, as although we are doing reasonably well, we have had redundancies etc. in the past and much lower incomes. And we don't like to live to our new means, because I worry it could be taken away.

Only you can really answer that for yourself OP, along with advice from your broker. Some people really really stretch themselves, it depends on your circumstances.