Guides / Affordability
How much house can I really afford in the UK?
A mortgage calculator tells you the maximum a lender will offer. It says nothing about commuting, council tax, or what's left for everything else. Here's how to work out a realistic figure using real 2026 numbers.
Borrowing power vs real affordability
| Salary | Max borrowing (4.5x) | Monthly mortgage (25yr, 4.5%) | Monthly take-home | Mortgage as % of take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £35,000 | £157,500 | ~£874/mo | ~£2,280/mo | ~38% |
| £50,000 | £225,000 | ~£1,249/mo | ~£3,100/mo | ~40% |
| £75,000 | £337,500 | ~£1,874/mo | ~£4,490/mo | ~42% |
| £100,000 | £450,000 | ~£2,499/mo | ~£5,540/mo | ~45% |
A lender approving you for 4.5x salary often means the mortgage alone is 38-45% of your take-home pay — before council tax, insurance, bills or commuting. The commonly recommended limit for total housing costs is closer to 35%. This gap is exactly why "approved" and "affordable" are different things.
The full monthly picture: same mortgage, two locations
Take a £50k earner approved for a £220,000 property (10% deposit, mortgage ~£1,098/month). The mortgage is identical in both scenarios — but the total monthly picture is very different.
📍 No commute (local job)
Mortgage~£1,098/mo
Council tax (Band C-D)~£175/mo
Travel (local/car)~£80/mo
Energy, water, broadband~£195/mo
Insurance~£25/mo
Total monthly~£1,573/mo
Left from £3,100 take-home~£1,527/mo
📍 Northampton, 5-day London commute
Mortgage~£1,098/mo
Council tax (Band C-D)~£185/mo
Season ticket (verified)£613/mo
Energy, water, broadband~£195/mo
Insurance~£25/mo
Total monthly~£2,116/mo
Left from £3,100 take-home~£984/mo
Same mortgage approval, same property price — but £543/month more left over for the buyer without a London commute. That's over £6,500/year, purely from the commute decision.
How to work out your own real affordability
- Start with your take-home pay (not gross salary) — what actually lands in your account each month.
- Get an accurate mortgage repayment figure for the property price and deposit you're considering, at the rate you'd actually be offered (check current rates — 2026 averages are around 5.6%).
- Add the council tax band for the specific property — this varies significantly by postcode and property size.
- Add your realistic commuting cost — including any onward Tube/bus travel, not just the mainline season ticket.
- Add typical utilities for the property size — a larger house costs meaningfully more to heat than a flat.
- Add buildings insurance (mandatory) and contents insurance (recommended).
- Subtract the total from your take-home pay. What's left needs to cover food, transport beyond commuting, childcare, subscriptions, savings and everything else.
Run the numbers for your situation
ABLE Index does this calculation for you — enter a postcode, your income and your commute pattern to see a realistic monthly picture for 2026, not just what a lender would approve.
See what you'd really have left
Get a personalised monthly breakdown including mortgage, council tax, commuting and bills.
Try the free ABLE check →