Every UK mortgage, explained simply

Most UK lenders cap residential borrowing at 4 to 4.5 times your annual gross income, with a handful of specialist lenders going to 5x or 5.5x for high earners or specific professions. They will also stress-test affordability against a higher hypothetical rate, so the multiple is only the headline number. Joint applications combine both incomes. The full method is in our how much can I borrow guide.

The mainstream minimum is 5% of the property price (a 95% LTV mortgage), so £14,250 on a £285,000 home. A few lenders accept 5% boosted by a guarantor or family-springboard product. The lower the deposit, the higher the rate — most buyers therefore aim for 10%, and 15–20% opens the sharpest deals. See the mortgage deposit guide.

Pick a fixed rate if certainty matters more than chasing the cheapest possible monthly payment: your rate is locked for 2, 5 or 10 years and the payment cannot move. Pick a tracker if you expect the Bank of England to cut rates and you have headroom in your budget for an unexpected hike. Trackers usually let you exit without early-repayment charges; fixes rarely do. Full comparison in our mortgage types guide.

Buy-to-let lenders typically want 25% as a floor, and the sharpest rates appear once you reach 40%. You also need to clear a rental-income stress test — projected rent usually has to be 125–145% of the interest payment, depending on your tax band. Add the 3% stamp duty surcharge on any property that is not your main home. Full picture in our buy-to-let mortgage guide.

An Agreement in Principle (AIP, also called a Decision in Principle or mortgage promise) is a written statement from a lender saying — based on a soft credit check and basic income details — they would in principle lend you a stated amount. It is not a formal mortgage offer, but most estate agents will not take you seriously without one. It is usually valid for 60 to 90 days.

Yes. Lenders typically want 2 years of accounts (or 2 years of SA302 tax-year overviews from HMRC), although a growing number will consider 1 year for limited-company directors or contractors. They will average your last two years of profit (or salary plus dividends) to set your borrowing figure. A steady upward trend helps; a sharp drop in the most recent year hurts. Detail in our borrowing guide.

From submitting the full application to a formal mortgage offer, expect 2 to 6 weeks in 2026 — quicker for clean, salaried applications and longer for self-employed or complex cases. The whole purchase, from offer accepted to completion, typically runs 22 to 28 weeks in the UK because of conveyancing and chains, not the mortgage itself.

You roll onto the lender's Standard Variable Rate (SVR), which is usually 2 to 4 percentage points higher than competitive fixes. Almost everyone should remortgage 3 to 6 months before the fix ends — either with the same lender (a product transfer) or a new one. Letting it lapse onto SVR is the single most common avoidable mortgage cost in the UK.