Mortgage Calculator

Three questions come up around a mortgage, and only the first is a payment calculation. How much am I actually borrowing once the deposit is counted, and what LTV band does that put me in. What does the house cost me every month once tax and insurance are added. And what happens if I pay a bit extra. This answers all three; a plain loan calculator answers the first.

Loan to value matters more than people expect, because lenders price it in steps rather than smoothly. The rate available at 80% is meaningfully better than at 81%, and the gap between 90% and 85% is usually larger than a year of saving feels like it should be. If you are close to a boundary, a slightly larger deposit can be worth more than negotiating on the rate.

The overpayment figures are the ones worth sitting with. Every extra pound comes off the balance immediately, so all the interest that pound would have attracted for the remaining twenty-odd years disappears with it. That is why the effect looks disproportionate, and why the same money paid early is worth far more than paid late. Check your lender's terms first: most allow overpayments of up to 10% of the balance a year without penalty, and charge for anything above that.

The total monthly outlay is the figure to compare against rent, rather than the mortgage payment on its own. Tax, insurance, service charges and ground rent are not optional and not part of the loan, and leaving them out is how a budget that looked comfortable stops being one.

This is an estimate. Lenders apply their own affordability rules, arrangement fees and stress tests — a rate quoted today is checked against your ability to pay at a considerably higher one. Nothing here is advice, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.