% of net income

[budgeting]

What percentage of your income would you spend on a mortgage. We are getting back into the property market in the UK and need to have an idea of what is a good comfortable % to allocate for a mortgage and give us an idea of what we can afford. Ignoring the deposit, what % of your salary would you be comfortable with paying for your mortgage. With our example, our net income would be around GBP8K per month.

[Common wisdom is...]

...one third of your income on rent or a mortgage.  I personally aim for one fourth.  I've known people who spent half (house rich, cash poor!), but managed it.

[Kafka]

It all depends on your lifestyle and what your priorities are... if you want to repay your loan faster then you may have to downgrade your lifestyle (holidays, electronics, any big-ticket items, ...). If lifesyile is priority, then you can take a super long loan (but you will probably end up paying your home twice his cash price) and continue spending...
Back home (France), banks considerer repayment above 33% of net income is not sustainable - From my experience, it's reasonible, good balance between not needing to cut (too much) on your expenses while taking a reasonibly long loan (closer to 20 years than 30)

[budgeting]

The reason I am asking is because we will not have a lot to pay on our mortgage, we may not perhaps have one if we are lucky. However, we are seriously considering sending our 2 boys to private school. I am trying to get an idea of what an average person would be paying for their mortgage and then seeing if that amount equates with what we will be paying school fees wise.

Sorry, if that is misleading.

[Kafka]

Am amazed by the number of posters here mentioning about sending their kids to private school in the UK... In France, except if you leave in a poor suburbs or your kids have special needs/requirements (art, language, sport, religion), I don't know anybody sending their kids to private school... Just curious, are public schools so bad in the UK?

[budgeting]

PP
To be honest, I'll make sure that I do a really good look around before finally deciding. I just had a good chat with my brother and he lives in a rally nice area in Hertfordshire. Both he and I never went to a private school. He sent his kids private once he had enough money. he told me that in the local schools in his area there are 45 kids in a class in some schools and there are so many eastern european kids (new to the UK) in the class that it slows down the learning process.

[Yes and....]

Am amazed by the number of posters here mentioning about sending their kids to private school in the UK... In France, except if you leave in a poor suburbs or your kids have special needs/requirements (art, language, sport, religion), I don't know anybody sending their kids to private school... Just curious, are public schools so bad in the UK?

Kafka - this middle class neurosis is a new thing.  Now it seems that anyone in the UK that can afford private school for their children is ditching state schools.  Yes, I think a lot of state schools have poor discipline but to tell you the truth if the discipline at the French Lycee here (High school) is anything to go by, I can't imagine it's much better in France.  I have direct experience of it here and was shocked!  I also have experience of other international schools here and the discipline is much better - even in the so call 3rd tier schools.  I think it's a cultural thing, the French middle classes traditionally haven't gone the private school route so it doesn't occur to them.  In the UK it's something the middle classes do as soon as they enter a higher income bracket - unless they are socialists and philosophically opposed.

[bighousenofoodinfridge]

...one third of your income on rent or a mortgage.  I personally aim for one fourth.  I've known people who spent half (house rich, cash poor!), but managed it.

My brothers wife and her family are very well to do and live in a massive, expensive house (now worth about GBP2 million). He once spent Christmas with them and he wasn't allowed to call my mum and dad on their landline because it cost money. This was before mobiles were the norm. Hilarious. 

Classic case of big house, with Tesco blue and red label goods in the pantry

[Agent007]

Nothing funny about that.

You obviously have a sick sense of humour.