Macquarie Home Loan Lending Policy 2026

A Macquarie home loan fits a scenario only when the borrower, income and proposed security meet the bank’s residential credit rules. Match those facts to the loan purpose and repayment structure before choosing Basic or Offset. A product feature such as an offset account doesn’t resolve an income or residency exception.

Macquarie Home Loan and Credit Policy Source

Macquarie’s current published Residential Home Loans Credit Guidelines are version 14.1, last updated 10 September 2026. They cover standard residential owner-occupied and investment lending, with separate construction parameters. The Macquarie broker resource page links the credit guidelines.

Save the PDF with the client file. Record its version, publication date, retrieval date and the sections used for the decision. Keep a separate record of the product terms and servicing calculation because each answers a different question.

For a pending application, record the submission and approval dates before applying a policy change. Ask for written confirmation of which rule governs the file when a change notice includes transition terms. Keep that response with the earlier assessment so the file shows why the chosen edition applies.

Use the lender-policy guide to organise the checks across your shortlist. A yearly article title doesn’t make credit policy an annual edition. Use the dated version itself as the reference for Macquarie mortgage changes.

Processing times are also a separate operational measure: the broker page publishes current pickup and assessment times, which don’t promise an individual settlement date.

Borrower and Income Fit

Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines assess employment history, verified income, liabilities and residency together. Serviceability means the client’s assessed income can meet the proposed repayments and their other commitments.

Fact	Macquarie policy starting point	Evidence to retain
Permanent or contract employment	Six months in the current role or six months in the same field in a prior role	Payslips and employment history
Casual employment	Six months in the current role or the same field	Payslips and income history
Ordinary self-employment	Two years trading in the current business	Business and personal financial records
Single applicant residency	Australian citizen or permanent resident with a current Australian residential address	Identification and residency evidence
Temporary-resident co-applicant	Income reliance and whether applicants are spouses determine the residency-matrix result	Visa, relationship and servicing inputs

With an Australian-resident citizen or permanent-resident co-applicant, a temporary-resident spouse can fit when they aren’t the predominant servicer. A non-spousal temporary-resident applicant fits only when their income isn’t needed to service the debt. All applicants must hold current Australian residential addresses.

For employed borrowers, separate base pay from overtime and bonuses. Macquarie accepts base income at 100%, while ordinary overtime and commission or bonus income are generally assessed at 80% subject to conditions. Essential-services overtime has a separate 100% treatment.

The following applicant is fictional. Priya is an Australian citizen living in Perth, with two years in her permanent nursing role and a $110,000 annual base salary. She has a $10,000 credit card limit and a $15,000 car loan, and seeks a principal-and-interest owner-occupied purchase loan.

Record Priya’s dependants and actual expenses as well as those debts. Her base income and employment history support an ordinary employed-income assessment, but those facts alone don’t establish her borrowing capacity. A clean income figure must never conceal a debt or a residency problem.

For contrast, a fictional sole applicant holding a temporary visa remains outside Macquarie’s standard residency guidelines even with the same salary. Keeping the disqualifying fact visible prevents the income assessment from producing a false standard-policy fit.

Purpose, Security and LVR

Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines set different maximum loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) for each structure. LVR is the loan amount divided by the property’s accepted value, expressed as a percentage.

Structure	Maximum starting LVR
Owner-occupied purchase with principal and interest repayments	95%, including any capitalised low deposit fee
Investment with principal and interest repayments	90%, including any capitalised low deposit fee
Refinance	90%, including any capitalised low deposit fee
Any interest-only portion	80%
Equity release	80%

The security can impose a lower limit. Check the postcode category, valuation risks, title and land size against the proposed loan. Residential houses and qualifying residential units can be acceptable, while commercial securities and dual-key apartments are outside standard security policy.

In Priya’s fictional purchase, assume the contract price and accepted valuation are both $800,000. She will occupy a completed metropolitan house, with one security and no valuation red flags. A $640,000 principal-and-interest loan is 80% LVR: $640,000 divided by $800,000.

These facts keep the calculation consistent with the proposed purpose and repayment type. If the valuation falls to $760,000, the same loan becomes about 84.2% LVR. Reassess the deposit, product and applicable security caps using that value instead of retaining the earlier ratio.

Record the use of any additional funds separately. Under this edition, cash out or debt consolidation above 80% LVR isn’t allowed beyond a $5,000 costs allowance. Refinancing a mortgage and increasing it to repay other debts are different structures.

Documents and Policy Exceptions

Build the evidence pack around each material fact in Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines. An unexplained mismatch between the application and supporting records needs resolution before lodgement.

Material fact	File record
Identity and residency	Identification, residential address and relevant visa or permanent-residency evidence
Base employment income	Two computer-generated payslips, with the latest within 60 days and the older within four months of submission
New role with only one payslip	Recent payslip and signed employment contract showing start date and base income
Self-employed income	Required business financials, personal tax returns and tax assessment or permitted lodgement confirmation
Existing commitments	Current loan and credit card records, plus explanations for credit enquiries
Security and purchase	Contract, title details and valuation
Proposed structure	Loan purposes, account splits, repayment types and servicing calculation

Macquarie’s business development manager (BDM) is the stated route for scenarios outside the guidelines. Request a written scenario response for an outside-policy residency structure, restricted security or unresolved income treatment. Ask a precise question and identify the supporting evidence, rather than requesting a general indication of appetite.

This fictional enquiry shows what to send after collecting the facts:

Please assess a sole temporary-visa applicant for a $640,000 owner-occupied principal-and-interest loan against an $800,000 completed Perth house. The applicant has a current Australian address, two years of permanent employment, $110,000 base income, a $10,000 card limit and a $15,000 car loan. Our policy reference is version 14.1 dated 10 September 2026, section 2B. The unresolved condition is the sole applicant’s temporary residency. Can Macquarie consider this outside-guidelines structure, and which visa conditions and documents would credit require?

Keep the response’s date, author and conditions with the enquiry. A scenario indication isn’t formal approval, and a response covering one borrower doesn’t apply to another file. Use the Macquarie broker channel guide for access and contact routes.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor quotes lender policy wording that you can retain in file notes. Keep the lender’s publication date separate from Bulma’s policy-update date when recording that evidence.

Establish Macquarie’s Bridging Position

As at October 2026, Macquarie’s published home-loan range lists Basic and Offset facilities, without listing a dedicated bridging home loan. Its residential guidelines describe standard and construction lending. Don’t describe an ordinary purchase facility as an approved purchase-before-sale bridge.

For a client buying before selling, document the overlap explicitly. Record both settlement dates, the existing mortgage payout, purchase costs and each property’s accepted value. Calculate the debt before the sale and the debt remaining after net sale proceeds are applied.

The written question to Macquarie is whether it will fund that overlap under the proposed facility and securities. Specify whether servicing relies on the unsold property’s proceeds, which property must remain security and when its mortgage must be released. A two-property facility feature alone doesn’t establish approval for that debt and timing.

If the bank’s response requires sale first, reflect that condition in the purchase funding plan. Keep a written answer before relying on a Macquarie bridging structure for settlement.

Offset, Package and Refinance Checks

As at October 2026, Macquarie’s facility comparison distinguishes Basic from Offset by offset access and the ongoing fee. Basic’s annual facility fee is $0 and it excludes offset accounts. Offset has a $248 annual facility fee in Australian dollars, paid in two equal six-monthly instalments.

Single or joint borrowers can link up to 10 offset accounts per variable-rate loan account, with up to four requested per account at application. Company and trust borrowers can open up to four offset accounts, which must be opened at application.

Fixed accounts don’t receive offset benefits. The facility must retain at least one variable account with a minimum $20,000 limit when it includes fixed lending.

Both facilities permit split loan accounts, so describe the purpose and rate type of each split. The Offset facility can include a Macquarie Black or Platinum credit card with the primary cardholder annual fee waived. Credit card access still has its own application requirements and creates a liability to record.

For Priya’s fictional $640,000 loan, a $240,000 variable split and a $400,000 fixed split leave a variable account for her offset. Her offset balance reduces interest on the linked variable account. It doesn’t offset the fixed balance or remove either account’s repayment obligation.

For a Macquarie refinance, compare the outgoing lender’s payout and discharge costs with the new facility’s written fees. Fixed-rate break costs can apply when refinancing or changing a fixed account. Don’t build a refinance saving around a cashback payment unless the applicable written offer includes one.

Changing securities, adding funds or switching repayment type can change the credit assessment as well as the product setup. Retain the revised valuation, purpose breakdown, servicing result and bank response for any outside-policy condition. For a lender comparison, use the separate ING and Macquarie home-loan comparison.

Construction Loans and Progress Payments

As at October 2026, Macquarie permits construction through Basic and Offset facilities, using a variable-rate construction account. The broker construction guide sets an 80% maximum LVR. Use the lower of the completed valuation and contracted build price plus land value.

The minimum application is $150,000 and the maximum is $2 million, subject to the security limits. For applications above $1.5 million, the construction account can’t exceed half the total lending. Version 14.1 restricts construction locations to metropolitan Category 1 and non-metropolitan Category 2.

A fully licensed contracted builder must complete the work. Owner-builders are excluded. Building must start within three months of settlement and the expected completion period is 24 months.

Before approval, supply the executed fixed-price, fixed-term contract and progress schedule. Council-approved plans must be provided before the first draw, with builder and construction insurance as required. The borrower’s contribution is spent before loan drawdown.

For each payment, retain the builder’s invoice and the client’s authority, together with the required stage evidence. Under the 10 September 2026 guidelines, contracts of $600,000 or less need panel-valuer certification at the first and final draws. Larger contracts need valuation inspection and approval at every progress payment.

Macquarie’s Home Loans Product Guide describes interest charged on the amount drawn, with one construction account per facility. The construction administration fee is $1,500 at settlement, with the Offset annual fee applying when that facility is chosen.

The construction account starts with a two-year interest-only period. After completion, the borrower can request principal-and-interest repayments. If construction exceeds 24 months, principal-and-interest repayments begin unless Macquarie has approved another interest-only period.

An extension requires a variation application and credit approval. Submit the interest-only extension request at least 30 days before the construction phase ends. Record the repayment transition and remaining funds with the build schedule so the client can meet the next payment.