Lenders use this to judge repayment capacity before approving credit. A commonly cited international guideline keeps total debt payments under roughly 35 to 36% of gross income, with housing alone under about 28%.

🇵🇹 Banco de Portugal has recommended, since 2018, that most new consumer credit keep this ratio (there called DSTI, debt service-to-income) around 50% of net income or below, with tighter limits for variable-rate loans or longer terms. Thresholds and bands can change, so confirm the current recommendation before using it to judge a real loan application.