Brighten Home Loan Lending Policy 2026

Brighten home loans cover salaried and self-employed borrowers, with separate products for expatriates and non-residents. Assess the file against the named product using the borrower’s residency, income evidence, available funds and proposed security. A product’s maximum loan-to-value ratio (LVR), the loan divided by the property’s assessed value, is only one part of that assessment.

As at October 2026, Brighten’s residential product range includes full documentation, alternative documentation, construction, vacant land and bridging loans. Match the purpose and borrower profile before treating a headline limit as available to your client. Use the lender policy guides to compare requirements for the same file.

Borrower Profile and Residency

Establish where each applicant lives, their citizenship or visa status, their work arrangement and why they need the loan. Brighten’s 17 September 2026 lending guide requires resident temporary visa applicants to live in Australia and fully verify servicing income. Their visa must not expire within 12 months of the application, and the acceptable visa list also applies.

An Australian citizen working overseas and a foreign citizen living in Australia have different residency facts. Record the country where each person lives separately from the country paying their income. Use the residency and visa checks for home loans to organise those facts across lenders.

Prepare a borrower summary with the following information:

• Each applicant’s legal name, date of birth and identity documents.
• Current address, country of residence and citizenship, plus the visa subclass and expiry date where applicable.
• Employee or self-employed status, the employer or business name and the start date.
• Income currency, country of origin and the account receiving it.
• Purchase, refinance or equity release purpose, including any debt consolidation or business use of funds.
• The intended borrowers, registered property owners and any company, trust or guarantor involved.
• Existing debts, credit limits, repayments, dependants and ongoing living costs.
• Credit issues, with dates, amounts and evidence of payment or resolution.

Seek a separate written policy answer for mixed residency or unusual ownership. Specify every income currency in that request.

Identify the exact difference, such as a visa nearing expiry or business income received overseas. A response about an Australian salaried applicant cannot establish the outcome for that changed profile.

For the residential products in the guide, Brighten Home Loans Pty Ltd is the named lender. Carry that legal name into the proposed product record and compare it with the lender named in the actual offer. The servicer and parent group have separate roles explained below.

Income and Funds Evidence

Choose the income verification route from the applicant’s actual work arrangement, then reconcile the documents with money received. As at October 2026, Brighten’s Empower Prime full documentation checklist requires two consecutive payslips for pay as you go (PAYG) employees. When servicing relies on overtime, allowances or bonuses, it also requires the latest PAYG summary or Single Touch Payroll summary.

For employees, record the base salary separately from variable earnings. Note employment start dates, probation, casual work, contract expiry and any recent change in hours. Explain discrepancies between the payslip and salary credits before presenting the income figure for assessment.

The Empower Prime checklist has a self-employed route using the most recent year’s financial statements, business or trust and personal tax returns, plus the latest tax assessment. Its company-wages route requires six months of consistent salary or director wages, recent payslips and supporting salary-credit or tax income records. An accountant’s letter must confirm sufficient company profits for commitments and profitable trading over the last two years.

Alternative documentation still requires evidence of income. Brighten’s Boss alternative documentation checklist requires a borrower income declaration plus one supporting form of evidence. The options are its accountant’s letter, the latest six months of Business Activity Statements (BAS) or the latest three months of business bank statements.

Boss Prime requires an active Australian Business Number (ABN) for at least two years. For turnover above $75,000, it requires at least 12 months of Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration. Boss Near Prime specifies one year of active ABN registration and, above that turnover, at least one day of GST registration.

Record the business structure, trading history, ownership share and registration dates alongside the chosen evidence. If the applicant has both wages and business income, show each source separately. Identify foreign earnings and currency conversion separately too, so the assessment addresses the income actually used to repay the loan.

Trace the Contribution to Settlement

Reconcile the money the client has with every amount they must pay to complete the transaction. Record where savings came from and retain account statements showing accumulation or receipt. For a gift, record the donor, transfer and whether repayment is required.

For sale proceeds, retain the sale contract and a calculation after the existing loan payout and selling costs. For overseas funds, record the source account, transfer route and amount available in Australian dollars. Separate borrowed contributions from the client’s own funds because the new repayment also affects their commitments.

Use a funds-to-complete calculation that includes the following amounts:

1. Purchase price, or the debts and costs being paid on refinance.
2. Stamp duty, settlement costs, lender fees and any other transaction charges.
3. The proposed loan advance, distinguishing fees retained from the advance.
4. The client’s usable cash and any deposit already paid.
5. The remaining cash needed by settlement and the date it becomes available.

In a hypothetical purchase, the price is $800,000, the proposed loan is $640,000 and transaction costs are $35,000. The loan is 80% of the price, and the client needs $195,000 across the deposit and costs. With $180,000 available, the file has a $15,000 funding gap before assessment.

That calculation assumes the assessed property value equals the purchase price. A lower valuation increases the cash required if the permitted LVR limits the loan advance. It illustrates the funding calculation and does not establish Brighten approval.

Security and Scenario Request

Describe the property precisely enough for Brighten to assess the security and the proposed loan structure together. Brighten’s guide effective 17 September 2026 requires apartment internal area above 40 square metres, excluding balconies and parking. It also applies lower LVR limits to some small apartments and separates resident from non-resident security rules.

The guide links product eligibility to postcode categories and concentration limits. Vacant land as sole security belongs to Brighten Land, while construction has its own requirements. Use the dated product guide for the selected product’s security conditions.

Include the full address and postcode, title type, zoning and intended occupancy. For apartments, include internal area, building height and any cladding concerns. For rural or unusual properties, describe the land area, actual use and any restrictions on resale.

Record the purchase price and valuation separately, with the valuation date and any adverse comments. Set out the requested loan amount, term and repayment type. For multiple securities, show the value and existing debt against each property and identify the security proposed for each loan.

Prepare a Request That Can Receive a Specific Answer

Send a complete borrower summary through Brighten’s residential scenario form or your Brighten business development manager (BDM). State the policy points separately so the reply can address each one. For access channels and existing applications, use the Brighten broker portal guide.

Before sending the request, complete this checklist:

1. Name the proposed product and purpose, plus the borrower and security structure.
2. Attach or summarise residency, income, credit and funds evidence, noting each document’s date.
3. Record the policy source, effective date and relevant product or section for each criterion relied on.
4. List each circumstance needing a specific decision, such as the visa subclass, variable income or apartment size.
5. Ask whether each point meets standard policy, requires further evidence or needs an exception.
6. Record the written reply’s date, author, product and conditions in the client file.

A useful answer identifies the facts Brighten assessed and the conditions the client must meet. If a reply deals with the income but leaves the security question open, follow up on that property point before relying on the scenario response. A changed borrower, valuation or funding position requires a response addressing the changed facts.

Brighten Entity and Residential Product

Brighten is the lending brand within the Real Asset Management (RAM) Group. RAM’s 21 October 2025 corporate update identifies Brighten as its wholly owned non-bank lender. RAM’s current credit business page, as at October 2026, describes the Brighten business as conducted by wholly owned RAM Group subsidiaries.

For residential products, Brighten’s guide effective 17 September 2026 names Brighten Home Loans Pty Ltd, Australian Company Number (ACN) 620 839 983, as lender. It names Brighten Financial Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 512386, as servicer. Those are distinct roles within the Brighten business.

Brighten’s September 2026 privacy policy covers Brighten Home Loans Pty Ltd, Brighten Financial Pty Ltd and Brighten Commercial Pty Ltd. The name Brighten Finance alone is insufficient to identify a contracting entity. Use the complete legal name and company number on the proposed offer when recording who lends and who services it.

As at October 2026, Brighten’s broker distribution information describes residential origination, underwriting and servicing through a network of brokers and aggregator partnerships. That distribution relationship explains how a broker accesses Brighten products. It is separate from ownership of the lender.

For a proposed Brighten home loan, keep the product name, legal lender, income route and security conditions together in the file. Use the written scenario response to resolve the client’s specific circumstances before progressing to a full application.