Bluestone Home Loan Lending Policy 2026

Bluestone home loans include Australian residential lending paths for borrowers with alternative income evidence or credit-history issues. The broker must match the actual credit event, income documents and property to the relevant product tier. Specialist lending still requires a workable repayment position and acceptable security.

Bluestone is an Australian non-bank lender. Bluestone Servicing Pty Ltd services its loans for credit provider Permanent Custodians Limited, as identified on its Australian broker product pages as at October 2026. Overseas Bluestone mortgage businesses have different products and rules.

Credit History and Scenario Context

Document each credit event separately so Bluestone can assess its amount, age and current status. A client saying that a default is paid gives you a fact to verify. It doesn’t establish that the loan fits Bluestone policy.

Bluestone’s Bluestone Product Guide effective 26 September 2026 separates Prime, Near Prime, Specialist and Specialist+ borrowers. For example, Prime considers paid defaults up to $500, while Specialist+ considers defaults subject to a reasonable explanation. The tier still has separate mortgage-conduct and other credit requirements.

Record the following for the scenario.

• The creditor, account type, default amount and listing date.
• The cause, such as a disputed bill, illness or lost income, with supporting records.
• Whether the debt is paid, unpaid or subject to a payment arrangement, with the relevant dates.
• Mortgage arrears and recent repayment conduct, alongside other credit commitments.
• Bankruptcy or debt-agreement history, including discharge evidence and any continuing obligations.
• Whether the financial problem has ended and how the client’s current income supports the proposed repayments.

Keep a current credit report and creditor statements with the explanation. If the client disputes a listing, identify the dispute separately from the lender’s treatment of the recorded event. For broader lender-selection considerations, use the guide to home loans with bad credit history.

Income Verification Path

Choose the evidence path that matches the client’s employment and Bluestone product tier. Full-documentation lending uses conventional income records. Alternative-documentation lending lets an eligible borrower prove income through another accepted record.

Bluestone’s 26 September 2026 Product Guide requires two recent payslips, no more than two months old, for employed borrowers. Its alternative is the latest payslip plus an income statement or employer letter or contract. Employment continuity requirements also differ by tier and employment type.

For self-employed borrowers, the guide lists two years of tax returns and notices of assessment for Prime full documentation. Other tiers list one year.

Alternative documentation uses six months of business activity statements (BAS), six months of business bank statements or an accountant’s letter. The business must also meet the tier’s registration-history requirements.

A single accepted income document doesn’t reconcile the whole application. Put the declared income beside the following records:

• Business accounts and personal transfers, so business turnover isn’t treated as the borrower’s disposable income.
• Current loan statements, credit-card limits and any tax payment arrangements.
• Household expenses, dependants and housing costs.
• Rental evidence where rent forms part of the repayment position.
• The proposed loan amount, term and repayment type used in the servicing calculation.

Explain differences between tax returns, bank credits and the declared figure before submission. Serviceability is the lender’s assessment of whether the client can repay after expenses and existing debts. An alternative income pathway changes the evidence route, not the need to demonstrate that capacity.

Security and LVR

Bluestone’s security limit depends on the property, product and loan amount. The loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is the loan divided by the value the lender accepts, expressed as a percentage.

Bluestone’s 26 September 2026 Product Guide includes residential Prime and Near Prime lending up to 90% LVR. Specialist reaches 85%, and Specialist+ reaches 80%. The maximum dollar loan also falls as LVR rises and differs between metropolitan and non-metropolitan locations.

The Quick Policy Guide, last updated 10 November 2025, lists separate property restrictions. Vacant residential land has a 70% LVR ceiling and must be registered and wholly vacant. Studios and serviced apartments appear among unacceptable residential securities.

Collect the address and postcode, title, zoning, dwelling type, land area and condition. State whether the purpose is purchase, refinance, debt consolidation, cash out or construction. A completed house and a proposed build require different assessments even at the same address.

Use Bluestone’s Acceptable Security Locations tool, as at October 2026, to identify the location category. Then match the amount and LVR to the relevant product table. The location result is indicative and doesn’t establish that the property itself is acceptable.

Include capitalised fees in the proposed balance. In a hypothetical completed-home case, a $640,000 balance against an accepted $800,000 value is 80% LVR. Adding fees to that balance pushes the ratio above 80%, which can change the applicable tier, limit or cost.

Scenario Presentation

Send a concise scenario summary with verified facts separated from missing documents and the precise question requiring a lender response. This lets Bluestone address the uncertain point without treating assumptions as established facts.

Bluestone’s Broker Hub, as at October 2026, provides access to its business development manager (BDM) support route. Use that route for a case-dependent policy question after matching the available facts to the published criteria.

A useful summary has four parts:

Part	What to provide
Verified facts	Borrower and employment type, credit-event dates, documented income, debts, security and requested purpose
Evidence still needed	The exact statement, discharge record, income document or valuation detail outstanding
Proposed structure	Product tier, evidence path, loan amount including fees, LVR, term and repayment type
Question for Bluestone	The specific rule affected and the written answer needed for that scenario

For example, a hypothetical client has a paid default and six months of business bank statements available. Ask which product tier fits the documented default and business history. Attach the relevant records and ask what additional conditions apply.

Record an indicative discussion as an indicative discussion. Use the lender’s actual written decision and conditions when describing approval or an exception to the client.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor quotes the lender wording behind its answers, which you can retain with the scenario notes. Its Scenario Planner helps compare the scenario across covered lenders. Bluestone’s assessment determines the final lending decision.

Bluestone Home Loan Review: Fit and Constraints

Bluestone can fit a residential file that needs alternative income evidence or a credit-history pathway outside Prime. The useful review is whether the client’s documented facts fit a specific product, with an affordable repayment and acceptable total cost.

Bluestone’s owner-occupier page, as at October 2026, describes purchases and refinancing with alternative-documentation options. It advertises lending up to 90% LVR without lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). Risk fees can still apply, so absence of LMI doesn’t make a high-LVR loan fee-free.

The 26 September 2026 Product Guide lists these standard residential fees in Australian dollars:

Fee	Published amount
Prime establishment	$590
Other residential product establishment	$990
Settlement	$120
Legal	From $400
Monthly account keeping	$15
Discharge	$500

The guide lists product- and LVR-dependent risk fees separately. Capitalising those costs increases debt and uses available LVR capacity. These figures concern standard residential loans, and construction has its own establishment fees.

Consider the repayment burden alongside the income pathway. A longer term reduces the scheduled repayment but extends the period of debt. Interest-only repayments leave principal outstanding, so the later principal-and-interest repayment matters to the client’s plan.

Customer reviews can describe an individual’s experience. They don’t establish current credit policy or predict another client’s approval. Use the Bluestone broker access guide for onboarding and application-support routes, and the lender-policy guides for related policy questions.

Construction Loans and Progress Payments

Bluestone construction lending has its own borrower, builder and drawdown rules. Its Bluestone Product Guide effective 26 September 2026 provides Prime and Near Prime full-documentation and alternative-documentation options. A borrower fitting Specialist residential policy doesn’t automatically fit the construction product.

The current guide requires a licensed builder with Housing Industry Association or Master Builders Association membership. Owner-builders and related builders are excluded. It permits a single dwelling, duplex or structural renovation, with townhouses and split contracts excluded.

Construction must start within three months of settlement and finish within 24 months. The guide sets a 70% initial LVR for land settlement and an overall construction ceiling of 80%. Its construction table caps lending at $1.5 million at 80% LVR, so the $3 million product headline isn’t available at every ratio.

The Quick Policy Guide dated 10 November 2025 specifies metropolitan construction security and an expected on-completion valuation. It requires approved plans, development consent and a fixed-price building contract. Home warranty and builder’s risk insurance evidence is required before construction begins.

Work out the client’s contribution from the land settlement and construction budgets separately. Include fees, costs outside the contract and any shortfall against the accepted valuation. Obtain the contribution and draw schedule for the actual project before the client commits funds.

Bluestone’s construction page, as at October 2026, describes payments directly to the builder after invoiced stages. Bluestone can use a valuation report to confirm completed work. Send the payment evidence and Progress Payment Request Form through its specialist construction support route.

Interest applies to funds drawn during construction. On completion, the loan becomes a regular home loan, with any remaining elected interest-only period continuing. For a construction scenario, present the builder and contract alongside the income evidence and separate land and completion values before requesting a written decision.