How Long Does Home Loan Pre-Approval Last?

Home loan pre-approval lasts for the period stated by the issuing lender, subject to its conditions. Current lender examples include up to 90 days and around three months, but your decision letter sets the expiry for your file.

A date still in the future doesn’t guarantee the same borrowing amount is available. Changed borrower facts or an unsuitable property can require another assessment before the client relies on the decision.

Answer How Long Pre-Approval Lasts

The usable pre-approval period comes from the lender’s written decision and the conditions attached to it. These lender examples, as at October 2026, show why a blanket rule isn’t enough.

Lender	Published period	What the period covers
Great Southern Bank	Up to 90 days	Home loan pre-approval, with full approval still needed to buy
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)	Around three months if circumstances don’t change	An indication of borrowing capacity, subject to the pre-approval conditions
National Australia Bank (NAB)	90 days	Its conditional approval certificate, with further checks before final approval

The figures come from Great Southern Bank’s pre-approval page, ANZ’s pre-approval guide and NAB’s conditional approval guide.

Three calendar months and 90 days aren’t interchangeable when calculating an expiry. Copy the actual expiry date from the decision instead of calculating it from a different lender’s example.

The practical window can be shorter than the stated validity period. A lender can need newer income evidence before the decision expires. A finance condition in the purchase contract can also fall due earlier.

Record those dates separately. A current pre-approval doesn’t extend a contract deadline, and a refreshed payslip doesn’t extend a pre-approval.

This question concerns time after a decision is issued. For time between submission and a decision, use the home loan pre-approval timing guide.

Read the Decision and Its Conditions

Read the decision as an approval for particular applicants and assumptions, with an expiry date and outstanding conditions. Keep the original communication with the file so a later summary doesn’t lose a restriction.

Record these details before treating the letter as current.

• The lender’s reference, issue date and stated expiry date.
• Each named applicant and the approved or indicative loan amount.
• The loan purpose, such as an owner-occupied purchase or investment purchase.
• The income, expenses and liabilities used in the assessment.
• The deposit source and amount, plus any required contribution still outstanding.
• Every condition, its due date and the evidence needed to satisfy it.
• Property restrictions, including any excluded types or locations.

Conditional approval lasts for the period in the actual letter, under the lender’s current rules for that decision. A deadline to provide a document is a separate obligation. Completing it doesn’t automatically renew the overall decision.

As at October 2026, ANZ calls pre-approval conditional approval or approval in principle. NAB’s guide also describes a conditional pre-approval certificate. Read the contents of the decision rather than assuming every letter with that label has the same expiry.

If the letter gives no clear expiry, record the expiry as unstated. Ask the issuing lender to confirm the decision’s current status and expiry in writing against its application reference. Don’t insert a 90-day date from a public guide.

When a public page and a file communication conflict, retain both with their dates and wording. Request a written clarification or corrected decision from the lender. Keep the discrepancy visible in the file until the lender resolves it.

Pre-approval remains conditional and isn’t final approval. The home loan pre-approval process guide explains the wider process and the handoff to final approval.

Reassess Changed Borrower Facts

Reassess the facts behind pre-approval whenever something material changes, even if the expiry date hasn’t passed. A larger debt or lower income can change the amount the client can afford to repay.

As at October 2026, ANZ’s guide says changes to income, expenses or employment can affect the amount it will lend. Ask the client about changes since the assessment, using the original application as the baseline.

Area	Changes to record	Evidence to refresh
Employment and income	New employer, probation, reduced hours, leave or changed business income	Current payslips, employment documents or updated business evidence requested by the lender
Household spending	Higher living costs or changed dependant numbers	Updated fact find and supporting expense information
Debts and credit	New finance, changed card limits or new credit enquiries	Current liability balances, limits and explanations of new applications
Deposit	Savings used, a changed gift or funds borrowed for the contribution	Current account evidence and documents supporting the source
Residency and applicants	Changed residency status or a different borrower	Updated status documents and applicant details
Proposed loan	Changed purpose or requested amount	Revised borrowing request and the facts supporting it

Serviceability is the lender’s assessment of whether the borrower can afford repayments. Update that assessment where the changed facts affect it. Also identify any lender policy change that affects the file, and have the lender resolve its effect on the existing decision.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor helps brokers check current lender policy and retain the quoted wording in file notes. Its Scenario Planner recalculates borrowing power when a client fact changes. The lender’s assessment sets the final figure.

Fictional Example: Current Letter, Changed Debt

Suppose a fictional lender issues a pre-approval on 1 October, with a stated expiry of 30 December and a maximum loan of $600,000. On 20 October, the client takes a $30,000 car loan.

The pre-approval is still inside its date range, but the car repayments weren’t part of the original assessment. The broker records the debt and sends the updated position for reassessment. The broker can’t assume the $600,000 remains available, or calculate a new approved amount from the letter alone.

Check the Property and Contract

Compare the selected property and contract with the security assumptions in the pre-approval before the client commits. A property priced within the client’s budget can still fall outside the lender’s security rules.

Check the purchase price and the loan requested against the available deposit. Then compare the property type, location and title with any restrictions in the decision. Give the lender the contract details, including settlement timing and any unusual terms affecting the security.

As at October 2026, ANZ’s guide identifies unacceptable property types and valuation requirements as reasons a loan can fail after pre-approval. Property acceptance and final credit checks remain outstanding unless the current written decision confirms their completion.

A valuation below the purchase price can change the funds required from the client. The contract price alone doesn’t prove the lender will accept that price as the property’s value.

In a fictional purchase, the letter allows lending against a standard residential property, but the client selects a serviced apartment. The date on the letter doesn’t establish that the apartment is acceptable. Send the property details to the lender for a decision on that security before relying on the earlier amount.

Have the client’s solicitor or conveyancer explain the finance clause and its deadline. If the contract deadline arrives before the pre-approval expiry, work to the earlier deadline. Obtain legal guidance before bidding at auction or making an unconditional commitment.

Refresh, Extend or Reapply

Use the issuing lender’s route to obtain a current decision before the old one expires or the client’s purchase deadline arrives. An extension request alone doesn’t establish that the lender has granted extra time.

As at October 2026, ANZ’s pre-approval guide says to reapply if pre-approval expires before a purchase contract is signed. For a decision already tied to a signed contract, give the lender the contract and deadline when requesting the next assessment.

NAB’s fixed-rate home loan guide, as at October 2026, says conditional approval can be renewed if more time is needed. Request that renewal through the banker or broker handling the application. Keep the resulting written decision, including any revised conditions.

Follow this sequence for the file.

1. Identify the expiry and each purchase deadline. Set the request date early enough to leave time for the lender’s assessment and any further documents.
2. Record everything that has changed. Send the existing reference and decision with the client’s current circumstances and proposed property, if one is selected.
3. Update the evidence the lender requires. This can include income documents, account statements and the latest debt balances, alongside evidence for changed facts.
4. Obtain each applicant’s current consent for the request and any further credit checks the lender requires. Keep the applicable lender declarations and authorisations with the submission.
5. Submit the extension, renewal or new application through the lender’s instructed channel. Ask for the new expiry and conditions to be recorded in the decision.
6. Compare the replacement decision with the old version. Record the new amount, applicants and purpose, then note the new expiry and outstanding conditions. Mark the earlier version as superseded while retaining it.

If the lender declines an extension or asks for a new application, follow that route. Continue to treat the decision as expired if its date passes while the request is pending.

Before the client relies on the replacement, confirm that its borrower facts and property match the current plan. Give the client the current decision and explain the conditions still outstanding, using the new version in every subsequent file note.