How much mortgage your income buys in Czechia, and what banks count

On a net income of CZK 60,000 a month you can borrow roughly CZK 5.0 million over 30 years in October 2026, or CZK 4.6 million over 25 years. A couple with a combined net income of CZK 100,000 can reach about CZK 8.4 million.

The figures assume the average rate of 5.00 % and a bank that lets payments on all your loans take up to 45 % of net income (50 % for applicants under 36). That 45 % is not set by law. The ČNB (Czech National Bank) deactivated the DSTI ratio on 1 July 2023 and DTI on 1 January 2024, so what you meet today is an internal threshold that varies from bank to bank: 40–50 % for DSTI and 8–9.5 times annual income for DTI. The only binding ČNB limit is an LTV of 80 % of the property value (90 % under 36), and that second cap can stop you before your income does.

How much can you borrow on your net income?

Roughly CZK 840,000 of loan over 30 years for every CZK 10,000 of net monthly income. The table gives the cap for household net incomes from CZK 35,000 to 150,000.

Assumptions: a rate of 5.00 %, annuity repayment, no other loans, and a bank that allows 45 % of net income for the payment. Amounts are rounded to CZK 100,000.

For a quick estimate at 5.00 %, every CZK 1,000 of monthly payment carries about CZK 186,000 of loan over 30 years (CZK 171,000 over 25 years). Turned round, each million borrowed costs CZK 5,368 a month over 30 years and CZK 5,846 over 25 years. To answer how much mortgage can I get for your own income and commitments, use the calculator.

The average new mortgage in August 2026 was a record CZK 4.59 million. By the table, a household needs a net income of around CZK 55,000 to carry it over 30 years, which fits with most mortgages today going to two-income households. What else the bank looks at besides income, from the deposit to documents and age, is covered in our first-time buyer guide.

Are DSTI and DTI limits law or bank rules?

They are bank rules. In October 2026 the only binding ČNB limit is LTV, and each bank sets its own DSTI and DTI thresholds.

Under Act No. 257/2016 Coll. the bank has to assess your creditworthiness (úvěruschopnost, bonita), which means checking that you can manage the payment. How it does that is up to each bank, within two ratios:

• DSTI is the share of all loan payments in net income. The usual internal threshold is 45 %, or 50 % for applicants under 36, and some banks start at 40 %. The ČNB dropped it as a binding limit on 1 July 2023.
• DTI is total debt against annual net income. Banks work with 8–9.5 times; the ČNB deactivated the limit on 1 January 2024 and only recommends extra caution above 8 times.

At rates of around 5 %, DSTI will almost always stop you before DTI does. An income of CZK 60,000 is CZK 720,000 a year, which at DTI 9 would allow CZK 6.5 million, but a 45 % payment carries only CZK 5.0 million. DTI would start to bite only if rates fell below roughly 3 % (over 30 years). Many banks also test the payment at a rate somewhat above the one they offer (a “stress test”), to check you could cope with a rise after the fixed period. That is why offers for the same income can differ by hundreds of thousands of crowns, and why it pays to ask two or three banks.

If you are buying a flat to let, or a third or further property, note that since 1 April 2026 the ČNB recommends stricter parameters: LTV 70 % and DTI 7. The recommendation is not binding and banks apply it differently, so check the terms with the bank itself.

What the bank deducts from your income

The table above applies to applicants with no other commitments. Every regular payment the bank can see, or that you tell it about, comes out of that 45 %, and at 5.00 % over 30 years each thousand crowns of payment takes CZK 186,000 off the loan.

The bank does not rely on what you put in the application. It checks the credit registers (BRKI, NRKI, SOLUS), which show all bank and non-bank loans, cards and overdrafts, including the ones you never use. Cancelling an unused card with a CZK 100,000 limit a month before you apply costs nothing and raises your cap.

Which income counts and which does not

Banks count net income that is documented and stable, and this is where they differ most:

• Employees on a permanent contract: an average of 3–6 payslips or an income confirmation (potvrzení o příjmu) from the employer. Most banks do not accept income during a probation period (zkušební doba); some do after 3 months with the employer's confirmation.
• Bonuses, rewards and overtime: usually only part counts, and only if they have recurred for at least a year.
• Self-employed (OSVČ, sole traders): income from 1–2 tax returns, recalculated by the bank's own method. The flat-rate tax regime (paušální daň) complicates things, and many banks then count a fixed share of turnover. More in our article Mortgage for the self-employed.
• Directors of an s.r.o. (limited company): salary or remuneration from the company and any profit share; some banks also look at the company's profit.
• Rental income, parental allowance (rodičovský příspěvek) and travel allowances: accepted only in part or with conditions, and practice varies by bank.

The more secure and better documented the income, the larger the share the bank will count, so two applicants with the same figure on their payslip can end up with very different caps.

Applying with a partner or a parent

Several people can apply together: spouses, unmarried partners, a parent with a child. Their incomes are added and the cap grows almost in step: 2 × CZK 50,000 = CZK 100,000, which gives about CZK 8.4 million over 30 years. Commitments add up too, though, and the subsistence minimum is calculated for the whole household, so a couple with two children gets less than a childless couple on the same income.

A co-applicant (spolužadatel) brings two advantages people often miss. If at least one of you is under 36, the bank may go to 90 % LTV instead of 80 % and usually applies the looser 50 % DSTI threshold as well. And a co-applicant does not have to co-own the property, so a parent can “lend” you their income without appearing on the title sheet (list vlastnictví). The legal side of a joint mortgage with an unmarried partner is in our article Co-ownership and mortgages.

The second cap is the property value

Your income decides how much you can borrow. The property value decides how much the bank is allowed to lend: at most 80 % of the appraised value, or 90 % if one of the applicants is under 36. Whichever figure is lower wins.

If neither cap is enough, these are the levers that work:

1. Extending the term from 25 to 30 years raises the cap by 9 % (with a CZK 27,000 payment, from CZK 4.62 to 5.03 million).
2. Paying off or consolidating small loans, and cancelling unused cards: every CZK 1,000 of payment is CZK 186,000 of mortgage.
3. Adding a co-applicant is the strongest lever if they have stable income of their own.
4. A lower rate helps less than people expect. Moving from 5.00 to 4.59 % (Moneta, one-year fixation, LTV up to 80 %, account and insurance) lifts the cap at a CZK 27,000 payment from CZK 5.03 to 5.27 million.
5. A bank with a higher internal threshold: 50 % instead of 45 % means CZK 5.6 rather than 5.0 million on an income of CZK 60,000. A mortgage adviser (hypoteční poradce) can compare how the banks calculate.

Borrowing your deposit with a consumer loan does not work. The bank will see it in the register and deduct its payment, and your cap will fall by more than you borrowed.