The LTV Formula — Step by Step
The LTV formula is: LTV (%) = (Outstanding mortgage balance / Property's current market value) x 100. That is the whole calculation. If your outstanding mortgage balance is £175,000 and your property is currently worth £250,000, your LTV is (175,000 / 250,000) x 100 = 70%.
Understanding what the result means is just as important as the calculation itself. An LTV of 70% means you are borrowing against 70% of your property's value, and you have 30% equity. In mortgage market terms, 70% LTV sits in the 75% LTV pricing tier — the tier that most lenders use to categorise your borrowing level, rounding up to the next standard threshold. This matters because rate pricing is applied at tier level, not at the exact LTV percentage.
The standard LTV tiers used by most lenders are: 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, and 95%. Your actual LTV is rounded up to the nearest tier for pricing purposes. So an LTV of 72% places you in the 75% tier; an LTV of 76% places you in the 80% tier. Being just above a threshold is financially equivalent to being at the top of the next tier, which means small improvements in LTV — from 81% to 79%, for example — can unlock meaningfully better rates by moving you into the lower tier.
It is worth calculating both your current LTV and your LTV after any planned overpayments, to understand whether a targeted overpayment could push you below a pricing threshold before your remortgage application. This is a straightforward arithmetic exercise that can sometimes reveal a very cost-effective opportunity to improve your remortgage position with a relatively small lump sum payment.
How to Find Your Outstanding Mortgage Balance
Your outstanding mortgage balance is the amount you currently owe your lender. There are several ways to obtain this figure accurately. Your most recent annual mortgage statement will show the balance as of the statement date. Most lenders also provide online account access where your current outstanding balance is displayed, updated daily or after each payment is processed. If you do not have online access, calling your lender's customer service line will produce an accurate figure within minutes.
It is important to use your current balance rather than the original loan amount. Your balance will have reduced since origination through capital repayments — on a repayment mortgage — and may also differ due to any overpayments you have made. Using an outdated figure will produce an inaccurate LTV calculation and may lead you to approach lenders in the wrong tier.
If you have a flexible or offset mortgage with an overpayment facility, your balance may fluctuate depending on whether you have drawn back any overpayments you previously made. Confirm the actual outstanding balance — not the original balance or a historic figure — before beginning your LTV calculation.
Some borrowers have multiple charges on their property — a first charge mortgage and a secured loan or second charge mortgage. If this applies to you, the combined outstanding balance of all secured borrowings should be used in your LTV calculation, as this is how lenders will assess your combined borrowing against the property's value. Your LTV for remortgage purposes is calculated on total secured borrowing, not just the first mortgage.