Mortgage Calculators
Loan to Value Calculator (LTV)
Loan to value decides which lenders will look at you and what rate you are offered. It matters even more if your credit file is not clean.
- Your LTV from price and deposit
- Which lending band you land in
- What that band means with adverse credit
- Where the cliff edges sit between bands
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Lenders use the lower of the purchase price and their own valuation. This is an estimate based on typical lender criteria and current rates. It is not advice, a recommendation, or an offer of credit. What you can actually borrow depends on your circumstances and the lender's own assessment.
Why lenders care so much about LTV
Loan to value is the mortgage as a percentage of the property value. Borrow £180,000 against a £200,000 property and your LTV is 90%. The remaining 10% is your deposit, and it is the lender’s buffer if the property has to be sold.
Pricing moves in bands, not smoothly. The difference between 90.5% and 89.9% is trivial in cash but can move you into a cheaper tier entirely. If you are close to a threshold, finding a small amount more deposit, or negotiating slightly harder on price, is often the highest-value thing you can do.
With adverse credit the bands matter far more. Deposit size and credit history pull in opposite directions: the lenders most willing to accept a CCJ or a default are usually the least willing to lend at 90% or 95%. Several specialist lenders stop at 85%, and some waiting periods double once you go above 90%.
How a few thousand pounds moves you a whole band
A buyer agrees a purchase at £300,000 with a £27,000 deposit. That is 91% loan to value, which sits just inside the 90 to 95% band. Finding another £3,000, whether from savings, a family gift or negotiating £3,000 off the price, takes the deposit to £30,000 and the LTV to exactly 90%. Nothing about the buyer has changed, but the case has moved into a tier with visibly more lenders and better pricing.
The same logic applies at every threshold. At 85.4% you are being priced as an 85 to 90% case. At 84.9% you are not. Because lenders round in their own way and valuations can come in under the agreed price, it is worth leaving yourself a little headroom rather than landing exactly on a boundary and hoping.
On a remortgage the lever is the valuation rather than the deposit. If you bought three years ago at £220,000 with a 10% deposit and the property is now worth £250,000, the same outstanding balance of roughly £195,000 is now 78% rather than 89%. Many people remortgage on to a like-for-like deal without ever checking whether their LTV band has improved.
Where LTV and adverse credit collide
This is the part that catches people out. The lenders most comfortable with a default or a CCJ are, as a rule, the least comfortable lending at high LTV. So a buyer with recent adverse and a 5% deposit is not looking at a slightly smaller market, they are looking at a market that may not exist at all for that combination.
Adding deposit does two separate jobs in that situation. It improves the rate, as it would for anyone. But it also changes which lenders will look at the case at all, and in adverse credit cases that second effect is usually worth far more than the first.
It also affects waiting periods. Several specialist lenders apply one set of criteria up to a given LTV and a stricter set above it, so the same applicant can be acceptable at 80% and declined at 90% by the same lender on the same day. Criteria vary by lender and change without notice, which is precisely why the LTV band is the first thing an adviser establishes.
Where to go next
Independent sources
- MoneyHelper affordability calculator — An independent view of what lenders may offer
- MoneyHelper comparison checklist — What to compare beyond the headline rate
Tell Us About Your Deposit and the Property
Send us the price and the deposit you have. We will tell you which lending band that puts you in and which lenders are worth approaching.
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Read More About Deposits And LTV
Your loan to value band decides your rate. These pages explain how to move down one.
How Much Deposit Do You Need?
What each deposit size actually reaches, and what staying small costs you.
Low Deposit Mortgages
What is realistic at five per cent, and which lenders still look at it.
Family Deposit Mortgages
Using family savings or equity as security without giving the money away.
Remortgage Advice
Coming off a fixed rate, raising capital, or moving away from your current lender.
Find the lenders your LTV opens up
A few thousand pounds can move you a whole band. Send us your deposit and property price and we will show you the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions – Loan to Value Calculator (LTV)
What does loan to value mean?
It is the size of the mortgage expressed as a percentage of the property’s value. A £150,000 mortgage on a £200,000 property is 75% LTV. The lower the number, the more of the property you own outright and the less risk the lender is taking.
What is a good loan to value?
Below 75% opens up most of the market and the better rates. Below 60% usually reaches the cheapest pricing available. Above 90% the number of lenders narrows sharply, and above 95% very few operate at all.
Does LTV affect the interest rate?
Yes, and in steps rather than gradually. Lenders price in bands, commonly at 60%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% and 95%. Moving from just above a threshold to just below it can change the rate meaningfully even though the loan barely changed.
How does adverse credit change the LTV I can get?
It lowers the ceiling. Many specialist lenders that accept defaults, CCJs or a discharged bankruptcy will only lend to 80% or 85%, and some tighten their waiting periods further above 90%. A larger deposit widens the number of lenders willing to look at the case.
Can I reduce my LTV without a bigger deposit?
Sometimes. Negotiating the purchase price down reduces the loan and the LTV together. On a remortgage, a higher valuation than you expected has the same effect, and if property values have risen since you bought, your LTV may already be lower than you think.
Does the lender use the price I pay or the valuation?
Lenders use the lower of the purchase price and their own valuation. If the valuation comes back below the agreed price, your LTV rises, and you either find the difference in cash or renegotiate.