How Much Can High Earners Actually Borrow? The 6.5x Income Multiple Shift

Two lenders told a couple on £150,000 the most they could borrow was about £825,000. A third said £975,000. Same income, same week. The difference was not the rate. It was the income multiple, and for high earners that number just moved. Working out which lender to stand in front of is the inconvenient part, and that is exactly the part we exist to take off your plate.

Key takeaways

• On 19 May 2026, NatWest raised its maximum loan-to-income multiple to 6.5 times for joint applicants earning £150,000 or more, up to 75% loan to value.
• A couple earning £150,000 between them could, on that basis, borrow up to around £975,000, rather than the roughly £825,000 a 5.5x lender would offer.
• The high-earner end of the market now runs from about 5.5x to 7x income depending on the lender, so the gap between the right lender and the wrong one is large.
• The cap on a high earner's borrowing is usually the income multiple, not the interest rate. Most people focus on the rate.
• Hitting the top multiple usually means accepting a loan-to-value ceiling (75% here), so deposit and multiple have to be planned together.

What actually changed at NatWest?

On 19 May 2026, NatWest increased the maximum it will lend relative to income for higher earners. Joint applicants with a combined income of £150,000 or more can now be considered for borrowing of up to 6.5 times that income, where the loan is no more than 75% of the property value.

To put a number on it, a couple earning £150,000 between them could be considered for up to about £975,000 on that basis. A lender working to a 5.5x multiple would land closer to £825,000 on the same income. That is a £150,000 swing in buying power, created not by anyone earning more or saving more, but by which lender's affordability model the application happens to land on.

It was the fourth change NatWest had made to its income-multiple rules in 2026. Earlier in the year it introduced 6x for sole applicants earning at least £75,000 and joint applicants on a combined £100,000 or more, both up to 75% loan to value. For borrowers a lender views as lower risk, the ceiling keeps lifting.

How much can a high earner actually borrow now?

It depends entirely on the lender, because the high-earner end of the market is not consistent. As a rough map of where things sit in mid-2026:

• Teachers' Building Society and April Mortgages have offered up to 7x income for eligible borrowers.
• HSBC and NatWest sit at up to 6.5x for higher earners.
• Nationwide and Barclays reach up to 6x.
• Halifax, TSB and Santander work to around 5.5x.

Notice the spread. On a £150,000 income, the distance between a 5.5x lender and a 7x lender is the distance between roughly £825,000 and roughly £1,050,000. Same applicant. The lender you walk into first decides which end of that range you see, and most people only ever walk into one.

These higher multiples come with conditions. The 6.5x band at NatWest is capped at 75% loan to value, so it is built for borrowers with a deposit of at least 25%, not for someone stretching at 90%. The multiple and the deposit are two halves of the same plan.

Why the income multiple is the real ceiling, not the rate

When high earners think about borrowing more, they tend to think about the interest rate. Get the rate down, the thinking goes, and the payment becomes affordable. True, but it is the second question, not the first.

The first question is whether the lender's rules even allow the loan size, regardless of what you can comfortably pay. Two borrowers with identical incomes and outgoings can be offered very different maximum loans, purely because one lender multiplies income by 5.5 and another by 6.5. No amount of rate-shopping closes that gap. Only a different lender does.

So the income multiple is the gate. The rate is what happens after you are through it.

Here is the kind of case we work through

Take a married couple with a combined income of around £150,000. One is a salaried company director. One is a senior NHS consultant whose pay is a base salary plus additional sessions and on-call supplements. They have found the house. The offer they can credibly make is being decided by what they can borrow.

The first two lenders they approached worked to 5.5x and landed around £825,000. Short of the house. The high street handed them its limit and left the shortfall as their problem to solve. That is the inconvenient version of this whole process, and it is the version most people get.

What actually mattered was three things. A lender whose maximum multiple suited the income, which is where the new 6.5x band comes in. How that lender treats the consultant's additional sessions, because some count the full picture and some count base salary only, a difference that can move the result by six figures. And how the director's income is read, salary plus dividends averaged over two years, and whether the lender will look at retained profit. Match those three to the right lender and the same couple is being considered for closer to £975,000, comfortably inside the house they had already found.

Nobody earned more. The arithmetic simply got wider once the income met a lender that could read it properly. Finding that lender, and explaining why the answers differ, is the job. The client should not have to become an expert in twenty lenders' affordability models to buy a house.

What should you do if you are a high earner buying or remortgaging?

• Do not let one lender's number become your ceiling. A high street "this is the most you can have" is one lender's rules, not the market's answer.
• Map the multiple and the deposit together. If the 6.5x band needs 25% down, work out whether stretching the deposit to reach it leaves you comfortable, or whether a slightly lower multiple with more room is the calmer plan.
• Know how your income is structured before you apply. Dividends, bonuses, additional NHS sessions, RSUs and commission are all treated differently by different lenders, and the right match is worth more than a small rate saving.
• Get the income evidence in order early. The lenders that lend most generously to high earners often look hardest at how the income is documented.

Frequently asked questions

How much can I borrow if my partner and I earn £150,000 between us?

On NatWest's 6.5x band for joint applicants earning £150,000 or more, up to 75% loan to value, you could be considered for up to around £975,000. A lender working to 5.5x would offer closer to £825,000 on the same income. The exact figure depends on your outgoings, credit commitments, the stress rate and the property's value, so the multiple is a starting point rather than a guarantee.

Which lenders offer the highest income multiples in 2026?

As a general guide in mid-2026, Teachers' Building Society and April Mortgages have offered up to 7x for eligible borrowers, HSBC and NatWest up to 6.5x for higher earners, Nationwide and Barclays up to 6x, and Halifax, TSB and Santander around 5.5x. Criteria change frequently and each lender applies its own income and loan-to-value conditions, so this is a snapshot, not a fixed table.

Do I need a bigger deposit to borrow at 6.5 times my income?

Usually, yes. NatWest's 6.5x band is capped at 75% loan to value, which means a deposit of at least 25%. Higher multiples and lower loan-to-value limits tend to go together, because the lender is balancing a larger loan against a larger equity cushion.

I am a company director with dividend income. Does this still apply to me?

It can, but how a lender reads director income varies widely. Some assess salary plus dividends averaged over two years, some can in certain cases consider retained profit, and the result can differ by a large margin between lenders. The high multiple is only useful if the lender also reads your income type properly, which is why the lender choice matters as much as the headline number.

Convenience is King. That is the whole point of us.

CiK stands for Convenience is King. Complex income is just income the high street finds inconvenient to assess. Our job is to make it convenient: we find the lender whose rules fit how you are paid, and we tell you why the answers differ. If a lender has capped what you can borrow and the place you want is just out of reach, it is worth a second opinion.

Let's talk

Written by Kieran Ali, founder of CiK Finance. Kieran advises company directors, contractors, expats and high-earning professionals on complex-income mortgages and protection.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Income multiples, lender criteria and loan-to-value limits are accurate at the time of writing (June 2026) and can change. This article is general information, not advice. Figures are illustrative. CiK Finance is a trading style of CiK Financial Ltd, an appointed representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network. A fee may be charged for mortgage advice.