CommBank Mortgage Lending Policy 2026

A CommBank mortgage assessment starts with the client’s loan purpose, verified income, existing commitments and property security. Rental receipts and student debt need separate treatment: a room rented in an owner-occupied home uses different rules from an investment lease.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), CommBank and Commonwealth Bank are the same lender in this guide. Match each policy answer to the client’s circumstances before calculating borrowing capacity or recommending a loan structure.

Start a CommBank Mortgage Assessment

Start the assessment by recording what the client wants to fund and who will borrow. A purchase, refinance, construction project and linked purchase-and-sale transaction need different product and evidence checks.

Prepare a scenario summary with the following details.

• Record each applicant’s citizenship, residence, employment type and income currency.
• Identify individual borrowers, company borrowers or trustees and any guarantor.
• Describe the property, postcode, intended occupancy and valuation basis.
• List the deposit sources, requested loan amount and repayment structure.
• Reconcile income records with living costs, rental expenses and every existing credit commitment.

As at October 2026, CommBank’s residential broker page provides the official route into broker resources and support. Its broker serviceability calculator uses the same calculation system as CommBank credit analysts. Serviceability means the client’s ability to meet assessed repayments after expenses and commitments.

Keep the policy effective date beside the application date in your file notes. Conditional pre-approval remains subject to its conditions, including the eventual property and updated financial circumstances. For the access route and support options, use the CBA broker portal guide.

Use the lender policy guides when another lender is part of the shortlist.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor quotes the lender policy behind its answers. You can retain that wording with the scenario notes before completing the lender’s assessment.

Rental and Boarder Income

CommBank allows eligible first-home buyers to use boarder income from their owner-occupied home in serviceability. Its first-home buyer page, as at October 2026, caps this at $150 a week from one boarder arrangement.

The boarder can be a friend or family member, excluding the borrower’s spouse. The loan must fund personal use, including an owner-occupied purchase, construction or refinance. Investment purposes are excluded from this boarder policy.

Eligible cases can include guarantor loans and government-supported first-home purchases, subject to the relevant conditions.

This change recognises eligible bedroom income for first-home buyers. It doesn’t convert a whole-property investment lease into boarder income or allow the same rental receipts in both categories.

For investment rent, CommBank’s application guide lists an agent statement, current lease or recent tax returns showing rental ownership. CommBank also asks for rental expenses for each investment property. Its 2026 half-year lending presentation describes rental income net of rental expenses in servicing.

For boarder receipts, prepare the arrangement details, the boarder’s relationship to the borrower and evidence of payments already received. Record the bedroom and occupancy plan when the arrangement starts after purchase. These records explain the scenario.

The lender’s applicable verification requirements determine the submission documents.

One Property, Two Different Occupancy Plans

Consider a fictional $650,000 property with two alternative plans. The buyer also has a personal loan costing $400 a month.

Input	Whole Property Let to a Tenant	Eligible First-Home Buyer Lives There With a Boarder
Proposed receipts	Lease rent of $600 a week	Board of $150 a week
Annual gross receipts	$31,200	$7,800
Property expenses	Assumed investment expenses of $5,200 a year	Owner-occupier household expenses recorded separately
Existing personal loan	$4,800 a year	$4,800 a year
Treatment to assess	Investment rent with expenses and applicable lender adjustments	Boarder income within the specific eligibility rules

The investment plan has $26,000 after the assumed property expenses, before tax and loan commitments. This is a cash-flow subtotal, not CommBank’s accepted servicing income. The boarder plan has $7,800 of annual receipts before its expenses and commitments.

Incorrect: entering $31,200 of whole-property rent and $7,800 of board for the same occupancy period. Correct: use the income category for the actual plan and record the $400 monthly personal loan once. Assess the proposed mortgage repayment separately in both plans.

For evidence issues affecting other lenders, see rental income in home loan assessments.

Casual Employment and Expat Borrowers

Casual income needs an earnings history, while overseas income also needs currency and residency assessment. Passing one test doesn’t settle the other.

As at October 2026, CommBank’s home loan application guide specifies six months of bank statements for casual employees whose salary isn’t paid into CommBank. It also lists payslips, employment contracts or employer letters and pay as you go (PAYG) payment summaries or tax returns among income records.

The six-month statement period is an evidence window. Don’t treat it as an automatic minimum period with the current employer. Record the employment start date, earlier roles, breaks in work and changes in hours so the income calculation reflects the client’s ongoing employment.

CommBank’s Standard Variable Rate Target Market Determination, starting 14 March 2026, includes Australian citizens or permanent residents living and working overseas. That product eligibility still requires credit assessment and acceptable security.

Prepare an expat file with citizenship or permanent-residency evidence, overseas residence details and the Australian property information. Retain the employment contract, payslips, salary credits and tax records showing gross income, deductions and income currency. Record any translation needed to read the evidence.

CommBank’s tax-residency guidance requires foreign tax-residency information at account opening or when requested. Supply a tax identification number for each foreign tax jurisdiction, or the applicable reason for its absence.

Keep the original currency amount separate from the Australian-dollar amount used in servicing. Record the lender’s accepted currency, conversion basis, tax treatment and income adjustment with the calculation. A bank transfer’s exchange rate alone doesn’t establish the accepted servicing amount.

For example, a fictional Australian citizen working casually overseas has six months of salary credits. Those credits document earnings, but the assessment also needs employment continuity and an accepted foreign-income calculation. If either leaves less usable income, the combined borrowing figure must reflect that result.

HECS and Other Commitments

CommBank excludes eligible HELP debt from serviceability when repayment is expected within 12 months. The Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) includes Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) debt.

CommBank’s October 2025 explanation also describes a reduced serviceability buffer when repayment is expected within one to five years. Repayments remain included in that second category. A serviceability buffer increases the interest rate used to test repayment capacity.

Prepare a current Australian Taxation Office (ATO) loan balance and repayment estimate alongside the payslip deduction. Record the evidence date, income year and repayment-income inputs. ATO guidance confirms that revised withholding formulas took effect on 24 September 2025.

Payroll withholding and the outstanding student-loan balance answer different questions. A deduction shows money withheld from pay. The balance and expected repayments help establish how long the debt will remain.

In a fictional file dated 3 October 2026, the client has a $4,000 balance and an independently calculated $6,000 annual repayment estimate. Dividing $4,000 by $6,000 gives about eight months, before timing effects, indexation or further study debt. This arithmetic supports the near-term enquiry.

The lender’s calculation method and decision determine the treatment.

Refresh the balance after tax assessment, a voluntary repayment or another account adjustment. Recalculate when income changes or the application moves into a new income year. Preserve other debts and credit limits in the assessment even when HELP receives different treatment.

The HECS home loan assessment guide explains the wider distinction between student-loan balances and repayment commitments.

Savings, Professional Concessions and LVR

The requested loan-to-value ratio (LVR) must satisfy the applicable savings rules, professional concession conditions and property limits. LVR is the loan amount divided by the lender’s accepted property value, expressed as a percentage.

As at October 2026, CommBank’s application-outcome guide describes regular saving as evidence of repayment discipline. Trace the deposit through account statements and identify gifts, grants, sale proceeds and borrowed funds separately. A deposit balance alone doesn’t explain how it was accumulated.

CommBank’s healthcare page describes specialised home lending packages for healthcare professionals. Its broker site also lists a Professionals Offer. Match a medico enquiry to the client’s exact occupation, registration status, employment and proposed security.

Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) protects the lender against a loss on the loan. An LMI waiver changes an insurance requirement. It doesn’t itself establish accepted income, genuine savings or a maximum LVR for every property.

For written clarification, give CommBank the following scenario facts.

• State the occupation, registration body and current registration evidence.
• Identify the borrower structure, loan purpose and repayment type.
• Provide the purchase price, valuation, postcode and property type.
• Show the loan amount, deposit history and requested LVR, including any financed costs.
• Ask for the applicable professional concession, savings requirement and property-specific lending limit in the same response.

For a fictional $800,000 accepted valuation, a $720,000 loan is 90% LVR before any added costs. Use that as the proposed ratio to assess, not proof that a medico waiver or 90% lending is approved. Keep the dated written decision and its conditions with the file.

CommBank Bridging and Linked Transactions

CommBank currently has a Bridging loan for eligible customers buying before they sell. Its Bridging loan page, as at October 2026, states a maximum 12-month term and availability on Standard Variable Rate home or investment loans.

Existing CommBank customers must retain post-bridging debt with CommBank. New customers need at least $250,000 of post-bridging debt. Eligible borrower structures include individuals, non-trading companies and specified trusts, subject to credit approval.

The purchase creates an overlap with both properties held. Interest-only payments apply to the Bridging loan during that period. Sale proceeds repay the bridging debt and the remaining home loan continues.

Peak debt is the total debt during the overlap. End debt is what remains after applying net sale proceeds. Include purchase costs, sale costs and the existing mortgage payout so the expected sale price isn’t treated as entirely available cash.

For example, fictional peak debt of $1,100,000 less $700,000 of net sale proceeds leaves $400,000 end debt. Those assumed proceeds must already allow for the costs and debt payouts included in the calculation. Avoid subtracting the same mortgage twice.

An old CommBank bridging reference establishes historical terms only. Use the current product page and loan offer for the proposed transaction. Obtain written treatment of both valuations, settlement dates, expected sale proceeds, repayment capacity and the sale exit where those facts decide acceptance.

Construction Loans and Progress Payments

CommBank construction lending releases funds progressively as work is completed. Its construction page, as at October 2026, covers houses kept for residential or personal investment use, excluding dwellings built for immediate sale.

The Construction Loan process guide sets out the path from conditional pre-approval to formal approval and progress payments. Prepare the building contract with specifications, inclusions and payment schedule. Supply approved plans and financial evidence for the application and the lender’s valuation of the completed property.

Receive formal approval and the Commencement letter before starting the funded build. The borrower must use their own construction contribution before CommBank makes loan-funded progress payments.

When a stage finishes, the builder supplies an invoice. The borrower authorises it after confirming the invoiced work is complete, following the loan’s signing arrangement. Send it to the broker or Home Lending Specialist to arrange payment.

Provide contract variations promptly.

Construction must start within 12 months of the loan contract’s Disclosure Date. It must finish within 24 months of the first progress payment. The final payment request triggers an inspection against the building contract specifications.

During progressive funding, interest applies to drawn funds and payments are due on the 15th of each month. After the final progress payment, the loan changes to the product and repayment type selected at origination. The contracted loan term starts then.

CommBank’s October 2026 fee schedule charges $75 per progressive drawing, payable at the final drawing. Include those charges in the funding plan alongside the borrower’s contribution and any unfunded variations.

Offset Account Eligibility and Linkage

An Everyday Offset Account is a transaction account that reduces interest on the eligible loan portion it is linked to. CommBank’s offset page, as at October 2026, describes 100% offset on Standard Variable Rate, Simple Home Loan and Digi Home Loan products.

Standard Variable Rate permits up to 99 Everyday Offset accounts. Simple Home Loan permits two and Digi Home Loan permits one. An offset account can link to only one eligible loan at a time.

For a split loan, attach it to the eligible variable portion.

The current Everyday Offset Account guide requires eligible personal borrowers and matching borrower/account ownership. Balances offset only up to the linked loan balance, and earn no deposit interest. Linking can take up to five business days.

The guide states there is no linking fee. The current Simple Home Loan page also states no offset feature fee, with a $10 monthly loan service fee. The Digi Home Loan page states no loan service fee and no offset feature fee.

Standard Variable Rate has no offset feature fee. Where Wealth Package benefits apply, the October 2026 mortgage fee schedule lists a separate $395 annual package fee. Account and other loan charges remain separate from the act of linking.

To open or link an account, follow CommBank’s published NetBank procedure.

1. Search for Offset and select Manage my offset.
2. If needed, select Open Smart Access account and complete the transaction-account opening.
3. Select Link an offset, then choose the intended home loan and eligible transaction account.
4. Select Link to finish.

After processing, use Manage my offset to reconcile the selected loan and transaction-account details. Keep the linked loan account number with the client’s records. If the account attaches to another portion, correct the link before relying on the interest saving.

For a fictional $400,000 eligible variable portion with $20,000 in its linked offset, interest is calculated on $380,000. A fixed portion doesn’t acquire offset eligibility because it shares the same borrower. A monthly interest entry alone doesn’t identify which portion is linked.

Interest-Only Home Loans

CommBank permits interest-only periods for eligible owner-occupied and investment home loans, subject to approval. Its interest-only page, as at October 2026, limits each requested period to five years.

The lifetime limits per home loan account are five years for owner-occupiers and 15 years for investors. Interest-only is unavailable in the final five years of the loan term. Those limits apply to new or extended requests.

Interest-only repayments leave principal outstanding. When the period ends, principal and interest repayments cover the balance over the remaining term, so repayments increase. Record the client’s reason for the structure and the repayment plan after expiry.

Prepare current income, expenses and commitments for any reassessment. Identify the property purpose, requested period, prior interest-only periods and remaining term. A client’s preference for a smaller immediate repayment doesn’t establish eligibility.

For an existing loan, CommBank’s published path is NetBank, View account, then Account Information to find the interest-only expiry date. Select the correct loan from the account list. Complete the file with the approved repayment type, expiry date and evidence that the client can meet the later principal and interest repayments.