Borrowing capacity calculator
How much a bank will lend and what flat that buys, worked out the way banks do it: income minus living costs, with a rate buffer.
How we calculate
The formulas the calculator uses. Nothing is hidden.
- Available payment = min(income − living costs − commitments, DSTI × income − commitments).
- Commitments = other loan payments + card limits × 5% a month.
- Loan = payment · (1 − (1 + r)^−n) / r at the rate plus the 2.5-point buffer.
- Flat price = loan / (1 − down payment).
Assumptions
Every number the calculator assumes for you, with the date it was checked and its source.
- Interest-rate buffer (stress test)2.5 pp
KNF Recommendation S / UKNF position of 7 Feb 2023: minimum 2.5 pp for floating-rate loans (KNF resolution of 19 Jun 2023); lower is allowed only for loans fixed 5+ years; banks may add more. Secondary sources only, KNF text not fetched.
- DSTI cap (share of net income for all debt service)50%
Recommendation S: about 40% of net income up to the average income, 50% above. The average-income threshold was not verified, so the cap is an input defaulting to 50%. Each bank sets its own.
- Credit-card limit counted as monthly burden5%
Banks use 3-5% of the limit, used or not. 5% is the upper end; it is bank policy, not law.
- Living-cost allowance per household (PLN/month)1 person 1500; +900 each extra
Illustrative; each bank uses its own table. Mid-points of the published ranges: 1300-1700 for the first adult, 700-1100 for each further person.
- Haircut on foreign-currency income0%
Default 0 (none). No verified standard exists: banks apply their own haircut or refuse such income. Enter the haircut your bank quotes.
- Minimum own contribution10%
Standard is 20% (LTV 80%); 10% is possible only with insurance of the part above LTV 80% (up to LTV 90%). Bank policy and Recommendation S, secondary source from 2023.
Not advice
The calculator shows an estimate on the stated assumptions. It is not a loan offer, nor financial, legal or tax advice. The bank, the notary and the tax office set the final amounts.
What next
Take the result where it is useful.
How to read it? Questions about this calculator
Why does the bank test the payment at a higher rate?
The Polish regulator's Recommendation S makes banks check that you could still pay after rates rise, usually by at least 2.5 points. That is why capacity is lower than today's rate alone would suggest.
Does income in a foreign currency count?
Usually, but many banks reduce it by their own factor or do not accept it at all. Enter the reduction your bank quotes.
Does a credit card lower my capacity even if I do not use it?
Yes. Banks count 3 to 5% of the card limit as a fixed monthly burden, whatever the balance.
A result is where the conversation starts
Tell us what you got and we will show apartments that fit, plus what a calculator cannot see.
We reply in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and English, usually within one working day.
Elsewhere in the knowledge base
Playbook
Procedures from reservation to handover: what to do, in what order, what to check.
Know-how
Explainers: costs, taxes, mortgages for foreigners, developer risk, buyer rights.
Questions & answers
Short answers to what buyers ask most, grouped by topic.
Investor notes
Renting, yield, taxes and risk: looking at a flat as an investment.