The influence of variable income on your maximum mortgage
Bonuses, allowances, compensations, or contributions. There’s a good chance your income consists of various components. Some of these components are important in calculating your maximum mortgage, but not every bonus is the same.
The income you receive from your employer usually consists of different parts. Salary is one of them of course, but often you are also entitled to receiving allowances or a bonus. These have a major influence on determining the assessment income, the basis of what you can ultimately borrow for a house. Not all variable income components are included in the calculation by lenders. Something to pay attention to when you’re figuring out how much you can spend on your new property.
Individual choice budget (Individueel Keuzebudget)
More and more employers are offering you as an employee flexibility in your employment conditions. Your holiday pay, training budget, or your 13th month’s salary are added to a personal pot, the choice budget, also called the Individueel Keuzebudget (IKB). You can choose how to spend this budget yourself. How a lender includes this pot in your assessment income depends on the type of choice budget. There are two types:
- A choice budget in which holiday pay and a 13th month are combined. You can have the budget paid out in money, but also purchase extra vacation days or other secondary employment conditions with it. Because the holiday pay and the 13th month represent a concrete monetary amount, many lenders include this budget in the assessment income.
- You build up a choice budget on top of the holiday pay and the 13th month. In this pot, your employer adds, for example, credit for training or an extra day off. With this variant, there is no certainty that this budget can be paid out in money. Therefore, lenders usually do not include it in your assessment income. In case of a mortgage with National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG), this budget does not count, NHG stipulates as a condition that the budget can be paid out in money.
Tip: Look in your employment contract and the collective employment conditions for more insight into your variable income components. Some of these are not on your payslip every month.
Bonuses and commission
Do you receive one or more bonuses from your employer? Or a commission? Whether these can be included in your assessment income depends on the type of bonus:
Person-specific bonus or commission
A bonus you receive for your personal performance is included in your assessment income by many lenders. The amount that has been paid out over the past 12 months counts as additional income. Make sure your employer also mentions this in the employer’s statement in this way. Some lenders limit the amount that can be included as a bonus or commission, such as a maximum of 25% of the base income. Fortunately, there is a large selection; there are always lenders that do not impose restrictions.
Company performance-related bonus
Bonuses related to your team or company’s performance count much less often in your assessment income. This is because the payout is much less certain in the long term. For example, your profit-sharing or end-of-year bonus from the company may be much higher one year than another. Lenders want to prevent you from getting into trouble because you have borrowed too much. If they include the bonus, it is usually – but not with every lender – about the average amount over the past three years and a maximum of 25% of your base income.
Irregularity allowance (ORT)
The irregularity allowance (ORT) can make up a significant part of your total reward in sectors such as healthcare or industry. You naturally want to include these earnings in your mortgage application. Fortunately, most lenders think the same way. In determining your assessment income, they examine the total allowance amount over the past 12 months. Some lenders want to include only part of the allowance, for example, 20% of your basic salary.
Overtime
Do you get paid for your overtime by your employer? If it is structural compensation for overtime, this income can be included in your assessment income. Here, too, the amount received in the last 12 months is looked at. Sometimes, only part of the compensation is counted, a percentage of your base income.
Does working a lot of overtime help increase your maximum borrowing amount? No. Most lenders include a maximum number of hours per week in their calculation, such as 48 hours. Working more hours per week is usually not seen as sustainable in the long term.