There are two sides to every story, and since estate agents frequently talk to both buyers and sellers, they often hear both sides at the same time.

One of the best examples of this in property is the question of affordability; whilst the average price according to house price indexes has remained relatively high compared to previous years, the ability of first-time buyers to buy has not increased at the same rate.

As prices increase and sellers have a more valuable asset, first-time buyers are often squeezed out of the market, so people who are looking to buy also need to know what they can afford.

Calculating a property budget can seem complex, and there are a lot of factors that need to be considered once a buyer goes beyond hypothetical purchases and starts to get agreements in principle with mortgage lenders.

However, working out a starting point and a general price range is easier than you may think, and it is worth starting now to see what you can afford.

Multiply Your Annual Salary

Mortgage lenders use complex affordability criteria to determine how much they are willing to offer to borrowers, but one of the main starting points comes from an affordability guideline from 2014 that has since been removed.

The general rule was that your budget was the annual earnings of the household multiplied by 4.5, which is the upper limit of many mortgage products.

This means that, for example, if you earned the median average full-time salary of £34,963, you could borrow up to £157,333.50 towards the price of a house.

This number varies depending on the mortgage lender, size of deposit, financial situation, credit score and various other factors that can vary on a lender-by-lender basis.

More recently, mortgages up to 5.5 times the annual salary have been available, which would increase the previous figure up to £192,296.5, although these kinds of mortgage products require greater proof of financial stability and often a bigger deposit.

Multiple people can get a joint mortgage together, which can significantly increase buying power albeit with greater risk as you are relying on everyone being capable of paying their share.

Estimate Additional Costs

Do not forget the costs of actually moving in, as this can catch some people who stretch themselves by surprise.

You will need to ensure you have enough money to pay the agents, conveyancing solicitors, stamp duty land tax, the removal firm to move all of your stuff, the skip hire to get rid of anything unwanted and anything you need to purchase when you get there.

Whilst some of these figures will only be known once you start the process, it is possible to get rough estimates for many of these fees, and that will be enough for now to ascertain affordability.

Factor In Other Outgoings

Look at the other monthly payments and make sure that your monthly mortgage fits into your budget. These can include other loans, informal money lent to you, credit cards and anything bought on finance that is yet to have been paid off.

Knowing how much you have to pay in a month will help you ascertain how much you can realistically afford in the future, which might be less than the amount you can feasibly borrow.