Affordability

What salary do you need for a £600k mortgage in the UK?

A £600k mortgage typically needs a household income in the £130k+ range if you’re relying on standard salary multiples, but the exact number moves based on outgoings, deposit size, credit history, and whether your income is straightforward. Use the numbers below as a realistic guide, then sanity-check it with a proper affordability review before you commit to a property search.

Will Sharman

Mar 2, 2026

If you’re looking at a £600,000 mortgage, the real question is not just “what salary do I need?”, it’s “what will a lender actually accept once they stress-test my budget?”.

Most lenders start with a salary multiple, then they pressure-test affordability using your outgoings and the interest rate they assume you could be paying in the future. That’s why two people on the same income can get very different borrowing results.

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The simple maths, salary multiples for a £600,000 mortgage

A common starting point is 4.5x income. On that basis:

£600,000 ÷ 4.5 = £133,333 (roughly)

So if a lender is happy with 4.5x, you’re usually looking at around £133k household income to reach £600k borrowing.

Some lenders will go higher than 4.5x in the right cases, but don’t treat that as standard. Higher multiples tend to come with stricter rules, and they get knocked back fast if your outgoings are heavy.

Here’s what it looks like at different multiples:

4.0x income: £150,000 salary needed
4.5x income: £133,333 salary needed
5.0x income: £120,000 salary needed
5.5x income: £109,091 salary needed
6.0x income: £100,000 salary needed

Those higher multiples are not a cheat code. If your monthly costs are high, a lender can still cap you well below the multiple.

If you want a quick starting point before getting into the weeds, use the MBNM calculator here: https://www.mbnm.co.uk/mortgage-calculator

The part people miss, affordability can cap you before the multiple does

Lenders do not just look at your salary and nod. They look at what’s left after commitments.

Common things that drag down what you can borrow:

Credit cards and loans, even if the balance is small
Car finance
Childcare
Student loans
High discretionary spending
Regular transfers to savings or investments
High costs from an existing mortgage or rent

This is why “we earn £140k between us” doesn’t automatically mean “we’ll get £600k”. If you’ve got £1,200 a month in childcare and £800 a month in car finance, you can be capped hard.

Deposit size and LTV, why it changes the answer

You can sometimes hit £600k borrowing on a lower income if the deposit is strong, because lenders may offer better rates and a gentler stress-test at lower LTVs.

Quick mental model:

If you’re buying at £750k with a 20% deposit (£150k), you’re borrowing £600k.
If you’re buying at £650k with a small deposit, you’re still borrowing close to £600k, but your rate is likely higher and stress-testing can be tougher.

Bigger deposits usually help, but they don’t override affordability.

What repayments might look like on £600k

Repayments depend on rate and term, so anyone quoting one monthly figure without those details is guessing.

To give you a real feel, here’s the direction of travel:

A longer term reduces the monthly payment, but increases the total interest paid.
A higher rate can add hundreds a month, even if everything else stays the same.

If you’re trying to work out whether a £600k mortgage is comfortable rather than “technically possible”, look at payments under a few rate scenarios, not just today’s best case.

If you’re deciding between product types, this guide helps: https://www.mbnm.co.uk/post/fixed-vs-tracker-for-your-2025-remortgage-which-should-you-pick

Single vs joint applications, what changes

A joint application does not magically double borrowing, but it often helps because:

You can combine incomes
Some outgoings are shared rather than duplicated
Lenders may view household affordability more favourably if income is diverse and stable

Where it gets messy is when one applicant has credit issues, irregular income, or heavy commitments. A joint app can still work, but the lender choice matters more.

Self-employed, commission, bonuses, and “non-standard” income

This is where online calculators start lying to people.

If your income is:

Self-employed
Day-rate contractor
Bonus-heavy
Commission-based
Multiple income streams

Different lenders treat it differently. Some average it, some haircut it, some want longer trading history, and some are fine as long as the evidence is strong.

If you’re in this category, you can’t rely on a generic salary multiple. You need a lender match based on how your income is evidenced.

Buy-to-let, £600k is a different affordability test

Buy-to-let often runs on rental coverage rather than personal salary alone, but it’s still affected by deposit size, expected rent, and product type.

If you’re buying as a landlord, read the buy-to-let page first so you’re not mixing residential and BTL rules in your head: https://www.mbnm.co.uk/services/buy-to-let

What to do next if you’re aiming for a £600k mortgage

If you’re early in the search, do this in order:

Start with a rough affordability check, then sense-check whether the monthly payment is something you can live with without turning your life into a spreadsheet.
Get a Mortgage in Principle before you start making offers, it saves you wasted viewings and awkward conversations with agents.
If your case is anything other than simple PAYE with low commitments, get your lender choice right first, not after the first decline.

If you want us to run the numbers properly, speak to Mortgage Brokers Near Me. The first chat is free, and if you’re ready, we can help you get a Mortgage in Principle so you know exactly where you stand before you commit to a property. We’ve arranged £600k mortgages before, and we’ve also helped clients get applications approved above £1.2m, so you’ll be speaking to advisers who understand larger borrowing.