Tool 17 · Mortgage affordability
How much house can you actually afford?
Not the biggest loan a bank will offer — the price your income, debts and deposit comfortably support. This tool applies the classic 28/36 lending rules and shows how sensitive your budget is to interest rates.
borrowing $0 at $0/month.
Car loans, student loans, card minimums — what you already owe each month.
Pro features. Tune the lending rules, stress-test higher rates, include running costs, and export the full rate table and report.
Stress-test the budget
Refine the model
The classic rule caps housing at 28% of gross income. Lower is safer.
Buy at a price that still works if your rate reset this much higher.
Running costs that eat into what's available for the mortgage itself.
Your price at every rate
Compare mortgage terms
| Term | Home price | Monthly payment |
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What "affordable" really means
Ask a lender how much you can borrow and you'll get the biggest number they're comfortable lending. Ask what you can afford and the honest answer is smaller: a payment that leaves room for saving, emergencies, and a life. The gap between those two numbers is where overstretched households come from — approved for the maximum, then squeezed by every rate rise and every unexpected bill afterwards.
This calculator uses the classic 28/36 rule that underpins most traditional mortgage underwriting. Your housing payment shouldn't exceed 28% of gross monthly income, and your total debt payments — housing plus car loans, student loans and card minimums — shouldn't exceed 36%. The tool takes the tighter of those two limits, converts it into a loan using your rate and term, adds your deposit, and that's your comfortable price. The chart then shows the part most buyers underestimate: how steeply that price falls as rates climb. A single percentage point can move your budget by tens of thousands.
Your existing debts matter more than most people expect. Because they consume the 36% total-debt allowance directly, every €100 of monthly debt payments can subtract roughly €15,000–€20,000 from the home price you can support. Clearing a car loan before applying is often the single fastest way to raise your budget — often faster than months of saving. Our debt payoff planner can help sequence that, and the loan calculator shows the full lifetime cost of whatever mortgage you settle on.
A worked example
€60,000 income · €300/month debts · €40,000 deposit · 4.5% · 30 years
Gross monthly income is €5,000. The housing cap is 28% = €1,400; the total-debt cap is 36% = €1,800, minus €300 of existing debts = €1,500. The tighter limit is €1,400/month, which at 4.5% over 30 years supports a loan of about €276,000. Add the €40,000 deposit and your comfortable price is roughly €316,000. If rates rose to 6.5%, that same €1,400 would only support about €222,000 of borrowing — a €55,000 smaller budget.
Things to keep in mind
- The deposit does double duty. It adds directly to your price and a bigger deposit relative to the price (a lower loan-to-value) usually unlocks cheaper rates — compounding the benefit.
- Buy at the stress-tested price, not the sunny-day price. If your budget only works at today's rate, it isn't a budget — it's a bet. The Pro stress test shows the price that survives a rate reset.
- Ownership costs more than the mortgage. Property taxes, insurance, maintenance and service charges typically add 1–2% of the home's value per year. Include them (Pro) or keep headroom for them.
- A shorter term costs more monthly but far less in total. The compare table shows the trade-off; the loan calculator shows the full interest picture.
- Rules of thumb aren't laws. Lenders in different countries apply different multiples and stress tests. Use this as your own discipline, then check what local lenders actually offer.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the 28/36 rule come from?
It's a long-standing underwriting convention from mortgage lending: housing costs capped at 28% of gross income, and all debt service capped at 36%. Many lenders now use different or more generous limits, but 28/36 remains a sound personal discipline precisely because it's conservative.
Should I use gross or take-home income?
This tool follows lending convention and uses gross (pre-tax) income. If you'd rather anchor on take-home pay, a common guideline is to keep housing below about a third of net income — you can approximate that by lowering the Pro housing-share slider.
Is it better to make a bigger deposit or pay off debts first?
Usually debts first, if they're consuming your 36% allowance — each €100/month of debt payments costs you far more borrowing capacity than €100 of deposit adds. Once debts are clear, the deposit becomes the lever.
What if I'm buying with variable or short-fix rates?
Then the stress test isn't optional — it's the whole game. Set the Pro stress slider to at least 2% and treat that lower price as your real budget, because your payment will eventually reset.
Does this include property tax and insurance?
The free tier looks at the mortgage payment alone. Pro lets you add monthly tax and insurance, which are subtracted from what's available for the loan — exactly how most lenders treat them.