For many lenders the maximum income multiple they will permit will be 5x income.  Some will even cap this at a lower level however, there are some that will go beyond the 5x income multiple. The options are limited but for some would-be borrowers there may be a way to even reach a 7x salary mortgage.

How to get a mortgage of 7x salary

As perhaps expected, this level of borrowing is not going to be available from many lenders and for most that do, they will be specifically tailored individual mortgages for high net worth customers.  High net worth clients are typically classified as earning in excess of £300,000 per annum and have investments in excess of £3M although these figures can vary from one bank to another.  Of course this level of net worth is going to restrict the availability however, there is at the time of writing one lender that will consider up to a 7x income mortgage without this high level of criteria imposed upon the applicant.  Whilst they do still have a minimum income of £25,000 for certain professions and £75,000 for all others, this is much more realistic for a wider audience.  There are still some other specific elements of criteria that must be met. Three of these are as follows:

• A minimum 10 year fixed rate
• Currently a minimum of 10% deposit or equity required
• Available to first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers in England and Wales

As already mentioned, at the time of writing there is only one lender that will offer a 7x salary mortgage and do therefore expect them to only lend this level to those that have a sufficiently good credit rating.

How to get a bigger mortgage in the UK

Even with the market now looking at mortgages of up to 7x income it is not always the case that those lenders will be available to you. So how could you get a bigger mortgage? Here are a few ideas that could work for you:

Longer term fixed rates – some lenders will increase the amount they will permit if they know they have the security of your payment not going up for a minimum period of time.

A bigger deposit or larger amount of equity – this may sound a strange thing to say when you are looking to borrow more however, the lower your loan to value or LTV the better risk you are to the lender and in turn some may offer higher income multiples.

Additional income – you may get income from a variety of sources and lenders will treat how they utilise these in different ways. If you receive income such as overtime, commission or bonuses lenders will vary in how much of this they will use. You may also receive benefits or maintenance where again lenders will vary in how much of this they use, if at all. Whilst the inclusion of this may not result in a higher income multiple it could mean one lender granting a higher level of borrowing to another.

Joint borrower, sole proprietor mortgage – a JBSP mortgage is where someone else is named on the mortgage with you so their income can also be taken into consideration for your loan amount but they have no legal ownership of the property.

Equity Release – if aged over 55 then you may qualify for an equity release mortgage. Income is no longer relevant as the amount you can borrow is based on the value of the property and your age at the time.

Government schemes – some government schemes may enable you to borrow more than the standard income multiple. It will not necessarily mean that a lender will increase their maximum but if borrowing from the Government this may give an overall level of borrowing in excess of that you would normally be able to obtain.

Can I get a 10x salary mortgage?

At this point in time, it is unlikely you will get beyond 7x income so anything such as a 10x salary mortgage or even an 8x salary mortgage from a lender is not going to be possible for virtually everyone. To get anything like this it is going to be bespoke and likely reserved only for those high net worth clients.

With such a varying degree of lending limits imposed by mortgage providers, should you wish to find out what your mortgage capacity is we strongly recommend that you speak to one of our advisors who will be familiar with who could be able to assist and how much they may be willing to lend.