Creditworthiness
A bank's assessment of a borrower's ability to repay a requested loan, based on income, existing debt, household expenses, and credit history — the decisive factor in whether and how much a bank will lend.
Сфера дії: Польща.
Визначення
Creditworthiness (zdolność kredytowa) assessment is required of Polish banks under Article 70 of the Banking Law Act, which prohibits granting a loan to a borrower who does not have the capacity to repay it, along with interest, on the agreed terms.
Banks calculate it from documented income — an employment contract, business income, or other verifiable sources — minus existing debt obligations and a modeled cost of living for the household, then apply a required buffer against future interest rate increases as recommended by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). The result determines the maximum loan installment, and from that, the maximum loan amount, the bank is willing to offer.
Creditworthiness and the loan-to-value ratio are assessed together but independently — a strong income can support a high loan amount, but the bank will still cap the loan itself at the maximum LTV percentage its policy allows, meaning a buyer may need a bigger down payment even with excellent creditworthiness.
Приклади
A couple's combined salary supports a mortgage installment of 4,000 PLN per month, which a bank translates into a maximum loan amount at prevailing interest rates.
A self-employed applicant with irregular income has to submit multiple years of tax filings for the bank to assess their creditworthiness, rather than a single employment contract.
An applicant with strong income but an existing car loan finds their maximum mortgage amount reduced, since the bank subtracts the existing monthly obligation before calculating available capacity.
Як це впливає на купівлю та продаж
Buyers should get a preliminary creditworthiness assessment from a bank or mortgage advisor before making any offer, since it sets the realistic ceiling on what property they can actually finance — a seller expecting a fast, financing-free closing should ask early whether the buyer's creditworthiness has already been confirmed rather than just assumed.
