Non-Resident Home Loans in Australia: Broker Checks

A non-resident home loan in Australia lends to a foreign citizen who lives overseas, and only some lenders accept that borrower. NAB’s home loan pages, as at 2 October 2026, exclude applicants who live overseas or need foreign investment approval. La Trobe Financial’s Non-resident Loan, as at October 2026, lends up to a 75% loan-to-value ratio (LVR) once that approval is granted.

The purchase has its own test before any lender looks at income. A foreign non-resident generally can’t buy an established home in Australia between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2029, so check the property type before you collect payslips. The steps below cover classifying the borrower, confirming the purchase, documenting overseas income and getting a lender’s written response.

Classify the Borrower Correctly

Classify an overseas borrower by citizenship, where they live, their visa status and how they’ll own the property. Those facts decide the lender category and whether the purchase needs foreign investment approval.

Residence has a specific meaning in the foreign investment rules. The Foreign Investment Review Board’s (FIRB) guidance on who counts as a foreign investor was last updated 12 December 2025.

That guidance treats a person as ordinarily resident after 200 or more days in Australia in the previous 12 months, with no limit on their stay. Foreign non-residents and temporary residents count as foreign investors.

This fictional comparison shows how three applicants with overseas links land in different categories.

Applicant	Citizenship and visa	Lives in	Proposed ownership	Category
Daniel	Australian citizen	Singapore	Sole owner	Australian expat, with no foreign investment application needed
Lukas	German citizen with no Australian visa	Berlin	Sole owner	Foreign non-resident, needing foreign investment approval
Ana	Brazilian citizen on a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa	Sydney	Sole owner	Temporary resident, under the special rules for temporary residents

Daniel and Lukas both live overseas, but they fall into different lender categories. La Trobe Financial’s International Borrower page, as at October 2026, shows the split. Its Expatriate Loan covers Australian citizens like Daniel at up to 80% LVR, while its Non-resident Loan for borrowers like Lukas needs FIRB approval and stops at 75% LVR.

Daniel’s file belongs in the Australian expat home loan guide. Ana lives in Australia on a temporary visa, so the temporary resident mortgage guide covers her visa conditions. The rest of this guide follows applicants like Lukas.

When Ownership Changes the Answer

Proposed ownership can remove the approval step without changing the lender category. FIRB’s residential real estate page, as at October 2026, says a buyer purchasing as joint tenants with an Australian citizen spouse needs no application. The same applies with a permanent resident spouse, or a New Zealand citizen spouse eligible for a special category visa.

If Lukas bought as a joint tenant with an Australian citizen wife, the purchase would need no application. The lender would still assess an applicant who lives in Berlin. NAB’s pages, as at 2 October 2026, exclude applicants who reside overseas regardless of citizenship.

New Zealand citizens who hold, or are eligible for, a special category visa need no application either. Record each applicant’s passport, visa grant, country of residence and intended share of the title before you approach a lender.

Confirm the Purchase Can Proceed

A foreign non-resident needs foreign investment approval before buying residential land in Australia, whatever its value. Under the residential land guidance, last updated 1 July 2026, they’re generally banned from buying established dwellings from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029.

The property type decides whether approval is available at all.

• A new dwelling hasn’t been sold as a dwelling or occupied before, and includes off-the-plan apartments. Approval usually caps the purchase price and puts no conditions on use.
• Vacant residential land can be bought with approval. Construction must usually finish within four years, and the land can’t be sold before then.
• An established dwelling falls under the ban. A house rebuilt on a lot that already had a dwelling also counts as established, even when it has never been lived in.

The ban’s exceptions don’t fit an individual buyer. They cover redevelopments adding at least 20 dwellings, commercial-scale housing and employer housing for Pacific and Timor-Leste workers.

A developer with 50 or more dwellings in one development can hold a New (or Near-New) Dwelling Exemption Certificate. The buyer then usually needs no separate approval for up to $3 million of dwellings in that development. Ask the developer for a copy and check that it covers the purchase.

Approval Steps and Costs

The buyer applies through the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) online services for foreign investors before purchase. The Schedule of Fees for 2026-27 lists $15,600 for a new dwelling or vacant land costing $1 million or less, and $31,300 up to $2 million. The 30-day statutory decision period starts only once the correct fee is paid.

From 19 September 2026, Treasury no longer accepts card payments for these fees. The buyer pays by BPAY, direct deposit or international bank transfer.

Ownership brings its own obligations. The buyer notifies the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets after the purchase. An annual vacancy fee applies if the home isn’t occupied, or genuinely available to rent, for at least 183 days a year.

States add their own duty. Revenue NSW’s surcharge purchaser duty, last updated 20 August 2026, is 9% of the dutiable value on top of transfer duty. Victoria’s foreign purchaser additional duty, updated 29 September 2026, is 8%.

Approval also affects lender choice. La Trobe Financial’s Non-resident Loan, as at October 2026, needs FIRB approval, while NAB’s pages, as at 2 October 2026, exclude applicants who need it. The FIRB property approval guide explains the application in more detail.

Check Income and Funds

Once the lender category and the purchase are settled, test the borrower’s income and funds against the lender’s rules. FIRB approval lets the borrower buy the property, but it doesn’t oblige any lender to fund it.

For a transaction-specific restriction, the primary source is Treasury’s Guidance Note 6 on residential land, version 5, linked from the residential land page updated 1 July 2026. A property lawyer or conveyancer in the property’s state confirms whether that contract needs approval and drafts its approval condition. Revenue NSW says the buyer’s solicitor or conveyancer can help declare foreign status, and the ATO answers residential application questions on 1800 050 377.

Which Lenders Accept Foreign Non-Residents

When a client asks about international mortgage lenders, the practical question is which lenders accept a borrower who lives overseas. This table compares six lenders’ published positions on a foreign non-resident applicant.

Lender	Published position on foreign non-residents	Source date
NAB	Home loans aren’t available to applicants who reside overseas or who need FIRB approval	As at 2 October 2026
Westpac	Residential lending isn’t available for Non-Australian Resident borrowers, according to its broker policy page	As at October 2026
ANZ	Applicants must be Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents	As at October 2026
Macquarie	Outside guidelines when no applicant holds a current Australian residential address	10 September 2026 guidelines
Pepper Money	Lends to Australian citizens, permanent residents and special category visa New Zealand citizens living in Australia	As at October 2026
La Trobe Financial	Non-resident Loan for investment with FIRB approval, from $100,000 to $5,000,000 at up to 75% LVR	As at October 2026

None of these positions is a market rule. Each lender sets its own residency policy, so these settings apply only to the lenders named in this table.

A Westpac non-resident home loan isn’t available on that broker policy wording. La Trobe Financial’s International Borrower page adds more limits. Its Non-resident Loan takes purchases and refinances with no cash-out, needs fully verified income and has principal and interest repayments.

Match the Evidence to the Lender’s Rules

Document each piece of overseas evidence against the rule of the lender that will assess it. Fully verified income means La Trobe Financial’s Non-resident Loan, as at October 2026, doesn’t take a low-documentation file.

Evidence	What to collect	Lender rule to check it against
Identity	Foreign passport and certified copies	Which certifiers the lender accepts
Country	Proof of the overseas address and the employer’s location	Countries the lender accepts for residence and employment
Currency	Payslips and bank statements in the pay currency	Accepted currencies, the exchange rate source and date, and any income reduction
Tax	Home-country tax records and the tax deducted from each payslip	Whether servicing uses gross or net foreign income
Deposit origin	Statements showing how the savings built up, plus transfer records into Australia	The lender’s genuine savings and source-of-funds evidence

Australian consular officers can certify copies of foreign documents intended for use in Australia, according to Smartraveller’s notarial services page. Arrange a certified English translation for any document that isn’t in English. NAATI is Australia’s national certifying authority for translators.

Getting a Mortgage in Australia From the UK

For a buyer in the UK, the passport decides which route applies. This fictional pair of buyers in London and Manchester shows the difference.

Hannah is an Australian citizen working in London. FIRB’s residential page lists Australian citizens living abroad as needing no application, so her purchase needs no approval. Her lender list and tax position follow the Australian expat home loan guide.

Oliver is a UK citizen living in Manchester with no Australian visa. He earns £85,000 a year from a UK employer and has £230,000 in savings. He wants to buy a new $1,000,000 apartment in Sydney to rent out, from a developer without an exemption certificate.

1. Check the purchase. The apartment is new, so Oliver can buy it with approval, and the 2026-27 schedule lists a $15,600 fee. An established apartment would fall under the ban until 30 June 2029.
2. Add state duty. Revenue NSW’s 2026-27 example puts a $1,000,000 purchase at $90,000 surcharge purchaser duty plus $39,187 transfer duty.
3. Check lender acceptance. Every lender in the table except La Trobe Financial excludes Oliver on its published position. Its Non-resident Loan fits an investment purchase with FIRB approval.
4. Apply the LVR cap. At 75%, the largest loan is $750,000, so Oliver needs a $250,000 deposit.
5. Total the funds. The deposit, duties and approval fee come to $394,787, before legal and valuation costs and La Trobe Financial’s 1.50% application fee.
6. Convert the savings. At the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published rate for 1 October 2026, A$1 bought £0.5246. Oliver’s £230,000 is A$438,429, which leaves A$43,642 for the remaining costs.
7. Convert the income. The same rate turns £85,000 into A$162,028. At the 28 September 2026 rate of £0.5304, it was A$160,256, so the lender’s own rate date changes the servicing figure.
8. Collect the tax evidence. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) says a P60 proves income for a mortgage and covers the UK tax year from 6 April to 5 April. Oliver’s employer had to give him one for the year to 5 April 2026 by 31 May 2026.

Oliver’s payslips show the income tax and National Insurance deducted each month. A self-employed UK buyer would provide SA302 tax calculations, which HMRC makes available for the last four years.

On these checks, Oliver’s file fits La Trobe Financial’s published Non-resident Loan terms at up to $750,000 once FIRB approves the purchase. La Trobe Financial’s page lists no accepted currencies, so the scenario enquiry asks it to confirm GBP salary and its conversion rate before you give Oliver a loan amount.

Obtain a Scenario Response

Send the lender or its business development manager (BDM) a short written scenario that states residency and property use in its first lines. Attach a foreign-income evidence schedule, so the reply covers the income you’ll actually rely on.

For Oliver, the enquiry can read like this.

My client, a UK citizen without an Australian visa, lives in Manchester. He will obtain FIRB approval before he buys. The property is a new $1,000,000 apartment in Sydney, bought as an investment to lease out. He needs a $750,000 principal and interest loan at 75% LVR. His income is a salary of £85,000 a year from a UK private company, shown on payslips and his P60. Please confirm in writing whether you accept GBP income from this employer, which exchange rate you use and any reduction you apply to foreign income.

Before you choose which lenders receive the enquiry, check which lenders’ policies address the scenario at all. Bulma’s Policy Advisor puts one non-resident question to 52+ lenders, and its coverage note names the lenders whose policy doesn’t address the point. Each answer quotes the policy wording it relied on, which you can keep with the enquiry.

Build the Foreign-Income Evidence Schedule

List each income and funds line with its currency, exchange treatment, tax deductions and transfer history. Keep any country or employer restriction in its own column until the lender answers it in writing.

Line	Currency and amount	Exchange treatment	Tax deductions	Transfer history	Written lender clarification
Salary	£85,000 a year	A$162,028 at the RBA rate for 1 October 2026, until the lender confirms its own rate	UK income tax and National Insurance from payslips and the P60	Monthly salary credits to his UK bank account	GBP income, the UK employer and any foreign income reduction
Savings	£230,000	A$438,429 at the same RBA rate	Not income	Statements showing the balance built up, then each transfer to Australia	Accepted source-of-funds evidence for the deposit
Expected rent	The lease appraisal amount	Paid in Australian dollars	Not yet taxed	None yet	Whether projected rent counts for a non-resident investment loan

Update the schedule when the lender replies, and keep the written answer with the file. If La Trobe Financial accepts the GBP salary, its reply sets the income figure for Oliver’s application. If it doesn’t, send the same schedule to the next lender whose policy accepts foreign non-residents.