Lenders generally offer mortgages to those who can provide a minimum deposit of 10%. However, some lenders will accept a deposit as low as 5%, equating to £1,500, while others may prefer a 15% deposit, totalling £4,500. 

A lot of other things will affect your eligibility for a mortgage, including your credit history or employment history, so be sure to take these into account when you speak to your mortgage adviser.

Your initial deposit will be one of the main factors that affect whether you can afford a £30,000 mortgage. This, plus as general affordability of the monthly repayments and the legal fees that you’ll have to pay when securing your property will all feed into the decision of affording your mortgage.

You should calculate your monthly salary, take into account regular outgoings that you have and compare this to the predicted monthly payments, bearing in mind mortgage terms and interest rates. The availability of a mortgage may also depend on your credit history. If you have other outstanding credit, such as credit cards, store cards, loans, finance, car leases, or a history of late payments or bad debts you may not be offered as many options for a mortgage. 

Some lenders have certain criteria around minimum loan sizes, minimum property value and minimum income requirements and £30,000 could make the pool of lenders slightly smaller to choose from which is why Mortgage Advice Bureau's advisers search over 90 different lenders to ensure they find the right deal for your specific mortgage needs. 

Looking to buy a home? If you’d like a better idea of the monthly payments, try our mortgage calculator and deposit calculator.

Occasionally lenders may be reluctant to offer a mortgage to those who are self-employed. This is because your income is one of the biggest determiners for your eligibility. If you’re self-employed and cannot demonstrate that you earn enough annually to cover your repayments, you may struggle to secure a mortgage.

Being self-employed and getting approved for a mortgage isn’t impossible. You will need to show your lender between one to three years of accounts to prove you have sufficient profit and income from your business and demonstrate your ability to come up with the deposit. If you've sent your Self-Assessment tax return to HMRC for the past 4 years Tax Overviews or a SA302 should be sufficient. You can also show them work records, for example details of upcoming projects or retained accounts. 

Relatively speaking, £30,000 is a small sum for mortgage lenders, so if you can secure a larger deposit, you’ll improve your chances. Give yourself time to build up a good credit history and if your profits are stable or increasing year on year in your accounts you should be in good stead. 

Generally, mortgage lenders calculate how much they would be willing to lend you by multiplying your yearly household income by a minimum of three. But, lending is not purely based on income and other factors such as your expenditure, any outstanding debt and any dependents that you have can factor into your lender's decision on how much they will offer you. It’s advisable to pay a higher deposit as this will increase your LTV (Loan to Value) ratio and may offer you more mortgage choices. Advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau can guide you towards the right product for your monthly income.

Many buy-to-let mortgages are interest-only, and come with their own specific terms. For example, you must already own another property, and you should be prepared to pay at least a 25% deposit. Therefore, while you can apply for this type of mortgage at £30,000, there may be more costs in the short-term, plus longer-term and higher interest rates.

An interest-only mortgage requires you to pay off the value of your loan once the term of interest payments has come to an end. Over the term of the mortgage, you only repay the interest of the loan. No capital is repaid unless you make over payments. You will be required to pay off the balance on expiry of the term. Many buy-to-let mortgages are interest-only, so you may be able to use any saved income from rent payments to cover this final sum.