Connective Home Loans: Lending Policy 2026

Connective Home Loans has separate lending programmes, so the policy for your file depends on the named product and the lender behind it. Connective Select, Connective Solutions and Connective Essentials have different policy owners. A self-employed income rule for one doesn’t establish eligibility for another.

Start with the full product name, then match the borrower’s income and proposed security to that programme’s credit policy. That gives you a file the correct credit team can assess. The lender policy guides explain the other policy questions to resolve.

Product, Lender and Policy Source

Identify the specific Connective product before applying a lending rule. As at October 2026, the official Connective Lending broker hub lists white-label products backed by different funding partners. The Connective name alone doesn’t identify the legal lender or the income assessment method.

Product	Responsible entity	Policy source to use
Connective Select	Funded by Bendigo Bank, whose legal entity is Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited	Select credit policy and its product-specific supporting documents
Connective Solutions	Pepper Finance Corporation Limited provides credit, with Pepper Money Limited as servicer	Connective Solutions product guide and the selected documentation and credit tier
Connective Essentials	Its 1 May 2024 programme disclosure names AFSH Nominees Pty Ltd as lender and Advantedge Financial Services Pty Ltd as servicer	Essentials loan documents and the applicable Advantedge programme policy

The Select broker page identifies its funder. Bendigo Bank’s May 2026 disclosure names its legal entity. Connective’s Solutions newsletter disclosures identify Pepper’s lender and servicer roles.

An Essentials File Needs Its Own Programme Record

Connective’s Essentials disclosure dated 1 May 2024 describes the Advantedge Residential Loan programme. As at October 2026, the Connective Lending contacts still lists Essentials under Advantedge, with customer care on 1300 543 558.

For an existing Essentials loan, match the lender and servicer in the loan contract to the proposed variation or refinance. For a new Essentials enquiry, ask the Connective Lending Manager which programme is available for that application and obtain its current policy. An Essentials home loan isn’t Pepper’s similarly named Essential product.

Connective aggregator membership and commission arrangements concern the broker’s business. They don’t establish whether a borrower qualifies for a residential loan. Keep those questions separate from the product-specific credit assessment.

Borrower and Income File

Build the income file around the selected programme’s assessment method. Record who borrows, who owns the property and which entity earns the income. Then reconcile the income used for serviceability, the lender’s test of whether the borrower can afford repayments.

As at October 2026, Connective Select’s niches guide limits applications to individuals. A client can run a company while borrowing personally, but a company applying as borrower is a different structure.

Select’s guide lists at least one year of trading for self-employed applicants. It permits one year of financials for applications that don’t require lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), with supporting documents discussed with the business development manager (BDM). These are Select criteria, not a shared rule for every Connective home loan.

Choose the Income Evidence Route

Full-documentation assessment uses the financial and tax evidence required by the selected lender. Alternative-documentation (alt-doc), often searched as low-doc, uses another accepted way to verify income. It doesn’t mean the borrower can omit evidence of repayment capacity.

Connective Select’s Simple Self-employed route is distinct from its financials-based assessment. As at October 2026, the published Select update requires at least three years of registered trading and no LMI. It also requires a Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) One Score of at least 751, the named credit score used in that route.

Income evidence is either six months of consistent payroll transactions or the last two years’ notices of assessment. The route permits no add-backs or adjustments for non-recurring income. A business owner who needs adjusted company profits assessed therefore needs a different income assessment route.

As at October 2026, the Connective Solutions broker page has both full-documentation and alt-doc residential options. Its alt-doc options use one form of income verification. Select the product tier before deciding which evidence supports the declared income.

Use the following file questions for a sole trader or business owner. They identify what the chosen policy must assess, without treating every document as mandatory for every route.

File question	Evidence to prepare
Who earns and receives the income?	Business structure, ownership details and the borrower’s personal income records
How long has that business traded?	Australian Business Number (ABN) registration and evidence of actual trading
Does the chosen route use profit or salary?	Financials and tax returns for profit, or payroll credits and wage evidence for salary
What supports alternative income verification?	The chosen programme’s accepted accountant declaration, business activity statements or business bank statements
What reduces available income?	Business and personal loan statements, tax debts, repayment arrangements and declared living expenses
Is there another income source?	Rental evidence, employment documents or other evidence accepted by the selected lender

For a company owner, trace salary through the personal evidence and the company accounts so you count it once. Record business debt treatment separately from personal commitments. The loan serviceability guide explains how those inputs affect the repayment test.

Security Decision

Assess the proposed property under the same programme used for the income decision. Record its address, title, land area and dwelling type, alongside occupancy and loan purpose. Use the lender’s accepted valuation basis to calculate the loan-to-value ratio (LVR): proposed loan divided by accepted property value.

As at October 2026, Select’s niches guide lists owner-occupied lending up to 95% LVR and residential investment lending up to 90%. It caps LVR at 65% for four or more dwellings on one title, subject to BDM discussion. A general residential ceiling doesn’t override that security restriction.

A fictional Select enquiry illustrates the difference. A $560,000 loan against four dwellings on one title valued at $800,000 has a 70% LVR. That exceeds the listed 65% limit, even though 70% sits below the general investment ceiling.

At a confirmed $800,000 accepted value, 65% is $520,000. The broker can assess a lower loan amount or request a specific exception. Neither calculation establishes that Select accepts the title, location or valuation.

Reassess When the Structure Changes

A new property or purpose can change the answer even when the borrower and loan amount stay the same. Ask a fresh security question when:

• An established dwelling becomes a construction or vacant-land proposal.
• A single home becomes multiple dwellings on one title, or a high-density apartment.
• The property changes to rural acreage or a location in a different lender category.
• The borrower changes from an individual to a company or trust.
• A straight refinance adds cash-out, debt consolidation or a business purpose.

For a Solutions alt-doc file, retain the product-specific LVR answer with its documentation route. As at October 2026, the Solutions broker resources direct brokers to its product guides and scenario support. A limit for Select, or for a different Solutions tier, doesn’t answer that file’s security question.

Exception Ownership and Record

Obtain a written response from the credit team responsible for the selected programme when the standard criteria don’t resolve the scenario. Give the team the facts that cause the policy question, including the proposed income route and security. A general statement that the deal looks possible doesn’t identify the conditions for submission.

As at October 2026, Connective’s broker contact page directs brokers to their local Connective Lending Manager. The Select and Solutions product pages also provide scenario support at info@connectivelending.com.au. Name the product in the enquiry so it reaches the responsible funder team.

For Essentials, the 25 November 2024 support notice distinguishes policy clarification from a credit-coach exception request. It says to retain an approved exemption email or scenario reference with the submission. It also makes the exception subject to system decision criteria and full credit assessment.

Use the current Connective Lending Manager to route an Essentials scenario to the applicable Advantedge team. Retain the response for that programme, rather than applying it to Select or Solutions.

Keep a file note containing:

• The complete product name, legal lender and responding entity.
• The policy title, version or effective date, plus the date of the written response.
• The borrower structure, trading history and income evidence considered.
• The property details, valuation basis, purpose and proposed LVR considered.
• The exact question, credit team’s answer and any conditions or expiry date.
• The reference number and the supporting documents required for submission.

Bulma quotes the lender policy behind each answer, which you can retain in file notes. Keep a case-specific lender exception response alongside that policy evidence.

Use the broker portal directory to find the relevant lender entry point once the programme is identified. Before lodging, match the final application to the facts in the written answer. If the income route, borrower structure or property changes, obtain a response covering the changed facts.