Mortgage calculator

Mortgage calculator guide

How much of a mortgage can you get?

A mortgage calculator can help you get a better idea of how much your mortgage would cost you in monthly repayments and over the whole mortgage term to see if it’s affordable.

You can use the calculator to work out the cost of a mortgage deal you’ve seen before applying and to help you get a better idea of what you need when you’re searching for mortgage deals and comparing costs.

The average mortgage loan first-time buyers look to take out is £173,767. Home movers are looking to take out a mortgage loan of £186,946, and remortgagers look to take out a loan of £162,531, according to MoneySuperMarket data.

The average loan amount mortgage borrowers look to take out by mortgage type, according to MoneySuperMarket data from Jan 2016 to 31 Jul 2018.

How do you calculate your mortgage payments?

Your mortgage loan amount is called the principal. It will have an annual interest rate added to it – for example, your mortgage deal might have an annual interest rate of 4%.

But that is 4% per year. The 4% interest is added to the first year and then again to the second year and every year of the mortgage. This is called compound interest.

The amount you pay each month takes into account all these interest charges and the fact that, by paying each month, you will reduce the principal each month and year. The reduced sum borrowed means the annual interest rate will be applied to a smaller amount of outstanding mortgage.

Our mortgage calculator can help you get more of an idea of how much a mortgage will cost you in monthly repayments and total interest, and whether or not the mortgage repayments would still be affordable if interest rates rose.

MoneySuperMarket data found that the average monthly mortgage repayment amount for first time buyers was £760.54, for home movers it was £749.96, and for remortgagers it was £681.29.

The average monthly mortgage repayment amount by mortgage type, according to MoneySuperMarket data from Jan 2016 to 31 Jul 2018.

How to use the mortgage calculator

Our mortgage calculator works out how much you might pay in monthly mortgage repayments in 6 easy steps:

1. Select if you’re looking to use the calculator to work out your first time buyer mortgage, remortgage amount, home mover mortgage or buy-to-let mortgage from the dropdown
2. Enter the property’s sale price
3. Enter how much you need to borrow as a mortgage loan
4. Select the number of years you want to be paying the mortgage back for (the mortgage term)
5. Enter the interest rate you’ve seen. If you haven’t found a mortgage deal yet then you can use the mortgage comparison tool to find personalised deals and see the current mortgage interest rates
6. Calculate mortgage

You’ll then see your monthly repayment amount, stamp duty costs and how much it’d cost you in total to take out that mortgage.

You’ll be able to see the total amount of interest you’d pay back over the whole mortgage term by looking at the total mortgage cost in the mortgage calculator results. The total mortgage cost also includes the stamp duty fee you’d need to pay for your property purchase.

The calculator works out the interest rate based on the yearly interest rate staying the same for the whole mortgage term (which isn’t often the case with mortgage deals).

Using the calculator can then help you work out whether the monthly mortgage repayments charged at that amount would be affordable.

You can change the values you put into the calculator to see if you can make the mortgage more affordable in monthly repayments by extending the term – and you can then see how this changes the total mortgage cost because you’ll be paying the loan back for longer.

You can also see if you can reduce the total interest cost you pay by increasing your monthly mortgage repayment amount and reducing the mortgage term to an amount you could still afford.

MoneySuperMarket data found that a mortgage term between 21 – 30 years is more popular amongst first time buyers and home movers. For remortgagers a mortgage term of 11 – 20 years is more popular. 

The most popular mortgage terms for different types of mortgages, according to MoneySuperMarket data from Jan 2016 to 31 Jul 2018.

Comparing mortgages

Click ‘Find me a mortgage’ below the calculator result to then see mortgage deals and compare by loan amount, term and initial interest rate for the deal.

The mortgage deal results you see listed will be based on the mortgage type you entered when using the mortgage calculator.

You can also select whether you want to repay the capital (property value) and interest or just interest. If you select interest only, you’ll still need to repay the value of the house at the end of the mortgage term.

It’s important to remember that the mortgage deals you see will be based on the mortgage calculations you’ve entered and haven’t gone through any affordability or background checks.

The mortgage amount, interest rate and mortgage term you may then be offered if you apply for a mortgage through a provider can then be different to the deals you saw because they’ll be based on your borrowing history and financial situation.