How much commercial mortgage can i afford?

How much commercial mortgage you can afford is determined primarily by income sustainability and debt servicing capacity, not personal income multiples. Commercial lenders assess affordability using a cash-flow-led model, supported by property value and sector risk.

In practice, lenders calculate affordability by applying a Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR), typically between 1.25x and 1.5x, to the net rental income (for investment property) or maintainable business profits (for owner-occupied or trading premises). This means the property or business must generate sufficient surplus income to comfortably cover loan repayments after stress testing interest rates. The final loan amount is then capped by the lower of affordability or loan-to-value (LTV), which usually ranges from 60% to 75%, depending on the sector, asset quality, and lender appetite.

In summary, your affordable commercial mortgage is driven by:

• Sustainable rental income or trading profits
• Lender stress-tested interest rates
• Required DSCR
• Maximum LTV for the property type

Even high-value properties will be limited if income cannot support the debt, while strong, stable income can materially increase borrowing capacity within lender risk limits.