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How to get a £50,000 personal loan with the best rate
It’s not easy to get approved for a £50,000 loan, but it certainly is possible. Use our loan calculator and read these tips to ensure you find the best deal.
Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured on it.
Compare £50,000 homeowner loans
Table: sorted by overall cost for comparison (representative APRC)
Overall representative example
If you borrowed £36,000 over a 13-year term at 8.69% p.a. (variable), you would make 156 monthly payments of £435.16 and pay £67,884.96 overall, which includes interest of £27,289.96, a broker fee of £3,600.00 and a lender fee of £995.00. The overall cost for comparison is 11.6% APRC representative.
If you borrowed £36,000 over a 13-year term at 8.69% p.a. (variable), you would make 156 monthly payments of £435.16 and pay £67,884.96 overall, which includes interest of £27,289.96, a broker fee of £3,600.00 and a lender fee of £995.00. The overall cost for comparison is 11.6% APRC representative.
Compare £50,000 unsecured loans
Table: sorted by representative APR, promoted deals first
Please note: You should always refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our results.
Late repayments can cause you serious money problems. See our debt help guides.
What's in this guide?
If you’re looking to make major improvements to your home, consolidate large debts or fund a big-ticket purchase, a £50,000 loan could be just the trick. But when borrowing such a substantial amount, it’s important to be aware how to get a deal with the best terms. Failing to do so could cost you thousands over the duration of your loan.
Should I get a secured or unsecured loan?
When borrowing amounts as large as £50,000, you’ll almost certainly have to opt for a “secured loan”. With a secured loan you agree for an asset to be used as collateral against late or failed payments. More often than not, this collateral will be the equity in your property, and as such these loans are often referred to as “homeowner loans” or “second-charge mortgages”.
Many lenders cap “unsecured” lending (which involves no collateral) at £25,000, however some big banks can offer up to £50,000. As these loans are more risky for lenders, they often come with a higher rate and very strict eligibility criteria. If your credit file isn’t spotless, it’ll be extremely difficult to get approved and if you do get approved, the interest rate you’re offered might not be the most competitive. Additionally, it’s generally a requirement that you’re an existing customer of the bank – and ideally your relationship with the bank would go back a few years.
How much are payments on a £50,000 loan?
| 5% p.a. interest | 10% p.a. interest | 15% p.a. interest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-year term | £1,499 | £1,613 | £1,733 |
| 5-year term | £944 | £1,062 | £1,190 |
| 7-year term | £707 | £830 | £965 |
| 10-year term | £530 | £661 | £807 |
| 15-year term | £395 | £537 | £700 |
| 20-year term | £330 | £483 | £658 |
How much does a £50,000 loan cost overall?
| 5% p.a. interest | 10% p.a. interest | 15% p.a. interest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-year term | £53,948 | £58,081 | £62,398 |
| 5-year term | £56,614 | £63,741 | £71,370 |
| 7-year term | £59,362 | £69,725 | £81,046 |
| 10-year term | £63,639 | £79,290 | £96,801 |
| 15-year term | £71,171 | £96,714 | £125,963 |
| 20-year term | £79,195 | £115,803 | £158,015 |
The loan illustrations above use approximate, rounded figures, based on a flat interest rate. Longer-term secured loans are likely to have variable interest rates. If the rate goes down during the course of the loan, the monthly and overall costs would decrease. If the rate rises during the course of the loan, the monthly and overall costs would increase. Current interest rates are low compared to historical averages.
£50,000 loan calculator #1: Calculate the costs of borrowing
This tool is designed to help you estimate the monthly and overall costs of borrowing £50,000. You can adjust the duration of the loan and the interest rate to get a better idea of what would be affordable. Our calculations assume that any fees involved are bundled in with the loan amount and repaid over the same term, at the same rate. Refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our calculations.
Interest rate
Loan term
Fees
Your loan would cost around £ each month and £ overall.
How much income do I need for a £50,000 loan?
The minimum income requirements will vary depending on factors like the term of loan that you opt for. All lenders must be able to demonstrate that they are lending responsibly. In other words, they have been careful to make sure that the proposed repayment schedule would be affordable for you, taking into account your income and outgoings. For example, an applicant with a £35,000 salary but relatively low regular financial commitments might actually stand a better chance than an applicant with a £50,000 salary and exorbitant monthly outgoings.
Ultimately your income is just one important part of the picture on which a lender will assess your case.
Loan companies might specify a minimum income requirement in their basic lending criteria (example below), however meeting these entry-level criteria means that your application can be assessed for approval, not that approval is guaranteed.
What credit score do I need for a £50,000 loan?
If you’re applying for an unsecured personal loan of £50,000, it’s very likely that you will need an excellent credit score. Different credit reference agencies use different scoring systems, but for Experian an Excellent score is 961 or higher. For Equifax, it’s 466 or higher and for TransUnion, 628 or higher. However your credit score is just one factor on which your application will be assessed.
If your credit rating is not excellent, you may opt to use the equity in your home as security. In this situation, your credit score becomes a less crucial factor – but still a factor. The importance given to your credit score will vary from lender to lender, with some lenders specifically aiming to serve those with bad credit.
How long does it take to get a £50,000 loan?
If you’re in the minority of people that can get approved for an unsecured loan of this size, then it could theoretically be in your account the same day. Realistically, larger loans are likely to get a bit more focus from actual human underwriters (that’s the people who stand between you and getting your loan) which can mean the process takes a couple of working days.
Secured loans more commonly take 2-3 weeks to arrange and draw down. Although there aren’t solicitors involved, a property valuation of some form will be required and the bank holding the first charge over the property will also need to give its approval.
These extra steps make secured loans a little slower, but the trade-off for many is access to lower rates and/or larger sums.
How long does it take to pay off a £50,000 loan?
You can adjust your loan term in order to make your monthly repayments more affordable. Similarly, you can increase your monthly repayment in order to clear the loan in less time. As a general rule of thumb, spreading repayment over a longer timeframe normally makes for lower monthly repayments (but a higher overall cost). So it really depends on what you can afford to repay each month.
At a fixed annual rate of 5.5%, a £50,000 loan would take a little over 11 years to repay if your monthly repayment was £500. If you wanted to keep the monthly costs down however, and paid £400 each month, it would take around 15 and a half years.
£50,000 loan calculator #2: Calculate the length of the loan
This tool is designed to help you estimate how long it might take to clear a £50,000 loan (plus what it’ll cost overall). You can adjust the size of the monthly repayment to suit your budget. Our calculations assume that any fees involved are bundled in with the loan amount and repaid over the same term, at the same rate. Refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our calculations.
Interest rate
Monthly payment
Fees
Your loan would cost around £ overall and take months to pay off.
Can I get a £50,000 loan?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the key factors that will matter to a lender weighing up the risk of lending to you:
- The amount of equity in your home (if you’re applying for a homeowner loan). This is how much of the property you actually own, i.e. the current market value of the property minus whatever is still owing to your mortgage provider. The loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is another aspect to this – it’s how much you’re asking to borrow vs. the total value.
- Your regular income and outgoings (and those of any co-signatories, if it’s a joint application). This is crucial when determining whether or not the monthly repayments would be affordable for you. Lenders will want to know what debt you’re currently carrying and how much that’s costing you each month. If your reason for seeking a new loan is debt consolidation, then naturally this will be taken into account. Lenders will also consider the source of your income and how stable it is.
- Your credit history. This is a file kept by credit reference agencies which records your borrowing history. Lenders will be hoping to see that you have a history of using credit responsibly. CCJs are also logged in your credit report.
- What you want the money for – i.e. the loan purpose. Lenders are pretty open-minded when it comes to the loan purpose, but may have a defined list of acceptable purposes or a defined list of unacceptable purposes.
- Some routine eligibility criteria like UK residency (some lenders will specify that you must have been a UK resident for a specific amount of time) and your age (both minimum and maximum).
£50,000 loans for specific circumstances
- £50,000 loans for bad credit. Although there are a growing amount of specialist lenders carving out a niche offering unsecured deals to applicants with bad credit scores, there are none offering amounts as high £50,000. Specialist loan companies tend to charge higher rates than mainstream lenders, so getting a loan of this size from one would be extremely costly in any case. However, if you’re a homeowner with a mortgage then you can apply to secure a loan against the equity in your property to boost your chance of approval and/or to obtain a lower rate.
- £50,000 loans for businesses. A £50,000 loan for a business could help propel it to the next stage of success. You’re often not allowed to use a personal loan for business purposes though. You’ll want to compare dedicated £50,000 business loans which are available from both mainstream banks and business-focused lenders.
- £50,000 loans for the self-employed. Realistically, getting a £50,00 loan can be slightly harder for self-employed people. These individuals are seen as a higher risk for lenders because their income is perceived to be less stable. Still, there are lenders that specialise in homeowner loans for self-employed people. Expect to be asked for a little extra documentation – typically two years’ worth of accounts, SA302s/tax calculations, HMRC tax overview statements and possibly a reference from your accountant as well.
How to get a £50,000 personal loan
- Work out your budget. Our calculator can help you get an idea of how long a term you’d need to spread the loan over in order to get manageable monthly repayments. As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to clear the loan in as short a time as possible, while ensuring the monthly repayments are affordable. Loans with longer terms tend to come with a variable interest rate (although some secured loans offer an introductory fixed-rate period), so it’s sensible to leave yourself a bit of leeway so that if rates rise, you’ll be able to take it in your stride.
- Get to know your credit record. Knowing your credit score is helpful for understanding what options are available to you. For many lenders, you’ll need a good credit score in order to be approved for a £50,000 loan. Companies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion (formerly Callcredit) provide a useful credit checking service that’ll let you know how you’re tracking. If your credit score doesn’t appear to be good enough, consider applying for a smaller loan, securing the loan or building your credit score first and applying at a future date.
- Shop around or – better still – consider a broker/loan-matching service. It’s generally a bad idea to simply go straight to one lender and apply. You should always compare multiple lenders online and look for the best price for the amount you need. For a loan as big as £50,000 even a slightly better rate can translate into thousands of pounds saved. A decent broker or loan-matching service can take your details and check your eligibility against products from multiple lenders in one go – saving you a lot of time (and hopefully money too). A number of lenders (such as Masthaven) actually only offer their loans through brokers.
- Apply. The easiest way to apply for a £50,000 loan is through the lender’s website. You’ll fill in your personal and financial details (or the broker will simply pass these along), agree to a credit check and the indicative result of your application will usually be made available within seconds. Bear in mind that you should only ever formally apply for credit when you’re pretty confident that you’ll get approved (lenders and brokers can help you to establish this beforehand). Each application for credit usually involves a search of your credit file, which causes a small (and usually short-lived) negative effect on your credit score.
Should I just remortgage?
Remortgaging is a popular strategy for homeowners to get hold of huge lump sums. This involves altering your mortgage deal and borrowing against the equity of your property. If you’ve got a lot of equity or can bag a low mortgage rate, this could prove more economical than a personal loan.
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Ask an Expert
Are there organisations that would provide say a £50,000 loan with the entire amount being repaid in 2 months?
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your question.
When it comes to getting a £50k loan, the vast majority of secured loan providers will offer loans with minimum terms of one year. Because of the extra admin involved in secured loans (valuation, seeking authorisation from the first-charge holder etc), it probably wouldn’t be worth a lender’s time to offer a £50k loan with such a short loan term (unless the rate was extortionate). You can of course repay a secured loan early, but there’s usually a penalty fee involved.
It’s therefore worth calling a few lenders beforehand to ask what a final settlement figure would be at two months into their loans. It could also be worth reading our bridging loan guide (depending on the loan purpose). Those often charge a flat fee rather than interest, and you typically pay the funds back at any point that suits you within a year.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Regards,
Tom