How joint eligibility is worked out
Both take-home pays are added together. Your credit repayments, essential spending and the money you want to keep spare come off. What's left is the most you could repay each month, and the calculator works out the loan it repays at the APR and term.
UK lenders must check that a loan is affordable for you without real financial difficulty (FCA CONC 5.2A). On a joint loan, each of you is liable for the whole debt.
Worked example
You take home £2,400 and your partner £1,800. After £300 of credit repayments, £2,500 of essential spending and a £400 buffer, you could repay £1,000 a month. At 8% APR over 5 years, that repays a loan of £49,644.90, with £10,355.10 of interest. Credit would take 30.95% of your joint pay.
Joint and several liability
If one of you stops paying, the lender can ask the other for the full amount. A joint loan also links your credit files, so the other person's history can affect your future applications.
What this calculator assumes
A fixed APR and equal monthly repayments. It doesn't check credit files, and lenders set their own limits, so they may offer less.
Borrowing in the US?
The country choices above the inputs open separate local pages. US lenders qualify co-borrowers on a debt-to-income ratio from gross income instead. Choosing United States opens that page and resets the inputs; amounts are not converted.
For a US joint loan, use the US joint loan qualification calculator in US dollars.
Inputs for the UK joint loan eligibility calculator
Your monthly take-home pay
What reaches your bank after tax, National Insurance and pension.
Second applicant's monthly take-home pay
The same for the other person.
Existing credit repayments
What you both pay each month on loans, cards and car finance.
Essential monthly spending
Your shared rent or mortgage, bills, council tax, food, travel and childcare.
Money to keep spare
A monthly cushion you won't put towards the loan.
APR
The APR you expect. We turn it into a monthly rate the way UK lenders do.
Term
How long you'd take to repay, in years.
CALCULATOR QUESTIONS
UK joint loan eligibility calculator questions
Can a joint loan help us borrow more?
Often, because lenders count both incomes. But both of your credit histories are checked too.
Who is responsible for a joint loan?
Both of you, for the whole amount. If one stops paying, the lender can chase the other.
Does a joint loan affect my credit score?
It appears on both credit files and links you financially, so each person's record can affect the other's applications.
Can I take my name off a joint loan?
Only if the lender agrees, usually by refinancing in one name.