Regularly spending large sums on weight loss drugs could reduce the amount people can borrow on a mortgage by thousands of pounds, some brokers are warning.
When homebuyers apply for a mortgage, the lender carries out detailed affordability checks on their income and outgoings, which include regular payments such as subscriptions and memberships as well as amounts spent on things such as gambling.
Monthly payments, for example, of £200 to £300 for privately prescribed jabs could be treated like any other committed outgoing, potentially knocking up to £20,000 off the maximum loan offered to a first-time buyer, according to Jamie Alexander, mortgage director at the broker Alexander Southwell Mortgages.
However, there are differing views in the mortgage world about the potential impact on affordability assessments of buying weight loss drugs. Some experts say they could be viewed as “discretionary” spending that someone could cancel, and as a result may not have an impact on the amount a homebuyer can borrow.
The number of people in the UK using weight loss drugs has soared, with the vast majority paying to get them privately. An estimated 1.6 million adults in England, Wales and Scotland used drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro to help lose weight between early 2024 and early 2025, according to a study by researchers at University College London (UCL) published this month.
Wegovy and Mounjaro can be bought with a private prescription at supermarkets and chemists at a typical cost last year of £100 to £350 a month. These sums are likely to have risen in many cases after price hikes for treatments such as Mounjaro, which have prompted some people to switch to cheaper jabs.
As part of their affordability checks, mortgage lenders usually say they will want to see bank statements and payslips to check applicants can afford the repayments. They will want to know about personal expenses such as gyn memberships and TV, music and games subscriptions – prompting many experts to advise would-be homebuyers to cut back on non-essential spending in the months before they apply for a mortgage.
Many brokers argue, however, that most banks and building societies do not go through people’s bank statements nowadays, so such expenditure may not come to light.
However, Aaron Strutt at the broker Trinity Financial said that if an applicant was spending several hundred pounds a month on weight loss drugs, “the lender is probably going to want to know about it”.
Such payments could stop at any time so are technically not an ongoing credit commitment, but if the lender spotted them on your bank statements “they might ask questions”, he said.
Alexander said that if regular weight loss jab payments showed up on someone’s bank statements, “lenders will treat them like any other committed bill – even if they never ask you about it. A regular £200 to £300 outgoing could reduce your spare income in affordability checks, so the maximum loan on offer shrinks”. It could particularly affect some first-time buyers or those on tighter budgets, he said.
Alexander said a regular £250 monthly payment could knock £10,000 to £20,000 off the maximum loan offered to a first-time buyer on a modest salary.
David Hollingworth of the broker L&C Mortgages said he had not heard of this issue “causing major problems”. He said this was largely likely to be seen as discretionary spending where, in theory, you could stop taking the treatment, so “it’s not something that’s likely to be picked up en masse”. But, he said, “there’s the possibility that an underwriter might raise it … It’s possible a lender could ask about it.”
Similarly, Nicholas Mendes at the broker John Charcol said that if a lender was to look at someone’s bank statements, any outgoings that could be viewed as quite high were likely to prompt questions. However, he added: “It’s something that someone could cancel.”
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