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Work out what you can afford

Ready to start looking? It’s time to work out what you can afford. From saving for a deposit to working out your mortgage eligibility (that’s how much you can borrow), we’ll guide you through the process.

Saving for a deposit

You’ll need a cash deposit to cover between 5% and 20% of the purchase price for your new home. So how do you start saving?

Calculating costs

From mortgage and solicitor fees to surveys and stamp duty, the fees involved in buying a home quickly add up. We’ll take you through what to expect along the way.

Working out stamp duty

Stamp duty is a tax you pay when buying a property in England or Northern Ireland and it changes depending on the property price. Here’s how it’s calculated.

  • If you're buying another home which you won't be living in, you may well be liable to pay the 5% stamp duty on second homes. We break down the complex rules in our dedicated Q&A.

  • What is stamp duty, how much is it, and how will it change in 2025? Get the lowdown and use our stamp duty calculator to work out how much you'll pay.

Buying schemes

There are several government schemes out there to help you step onto the property ladder. From Help to Buy Equity Loans to Shared Ownership, we’ve got the lowdown.

Understanding mortgages

Fixed rate or flexible? There’s a lot of jargon out there around mortgages. We’ll take you through what it all means so you can choose the best type of deal for you.

  • Despite speculation, the government did not confirm a new 99% LTV mortgage scheme in the Spring Budget. But there are still mortgages available for buyers with small deposits. Here’s what you need to know.

  • If you're thinking of buying a house and applying for a mortgage, you'll need to know all about loan-to-value. Here's our guide with the lowdown.

  • Buying a home to rent out? Here's our easy-to-understand guide to rental mortgages and where to find the best buy-to-let mortgage rates.

  • A good rule of thumb is that you can borrow between 4 and 4.5 times your total household income. Let's work out how much you can borrow for a mortgage.

  • Environmentally friendly mortgages: from how much they cost to who qualifies for one, here’s everything you need to know about green mortgages.

  • Paying off your mortgage sooner could save you literally tens of thousands of pounds. Senior mortgage advisor for Natwest, Michael Gyapong, reveals the top five ways to do it.

  • Need to work out your mortgage repayments? You can use our mortgage calculator - or challenge yourself to some mental maths with our mortgage calculation formulas. 

  • Making mortgage overpayments reduces the amount you owe on your mortgage, helping to offset some of the impact of higher borrowing costs.

Sold house prices provided by Land Registry/Registers of Scotland. © Crown copyright 2025. Our website is completely free for you to use but we may receive a commission from some of the companies we link to on the site.

Zoopla Limited is an appointed representative of Uswitch Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 312850) to provide the mortgage calculator tool and incorporated with company registration number 06074771 and registered office at The Cooperage, 5 Copper Row, London SE1 2LH. Uswitch Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 312850.

Zoopla.co.uk is not a mortgage intermediary and makes introductions to Mojo Mortgages to provide mortgage solutions. Zoopla.co.uk and Mojo Mortgages are part of the same group of companies. Zoopla may receive an introduction fee from Mojo Mortgages on completion of successful mortgage applications. This fee is based on a percentage of your loan amount. Mojo is a trading style of Life's Great Limited which is registered in England and Wales (06246376) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is on the Financial Services Register (478215). Mojo's registered office is The Cooperage, 5 Copper Row, London, SE1 2LH. To contact Mojo by phone, please call 0333 123 0012.