Home Loans for Pensioners: Payments Lenders Accept

Home loans for pensioners are possible when the lender counts the client’s exact Centrelink payment as ongoing income. The household must also be able to repay the loan from its income for the full term. Lenders treat each payment differently, so the Age Pension, Parenting Payment and Family Tax Benefit can each get a different answer from the same lender.

Receiving a pension doesn’t make a client eligible. The lender decides how much of each payment it counts and whether the loan can run past the point that income changes. It then tests whether the counted income covers the repayments.

This guide covers Centrelink pension and benefit income. Disability Support Pension has its own guide, the disability pension home loan guide, and the government’s retirement equity loan is covered in the Home Equity Access Scheme guide.

Identify the Payment

Start with the exact payment name on the client’s Centrelink statement, because lenders write policy for named payments rather than for Centrelink income as a whole. A lender that counts the Age Pension can still exclude Rent Assistance or count Family Tax Benefit only as supporting income.

Services Australia pays the Age Pension to people aged 67 or older who meet residence rules and the income and assets tests.

Parenting Payment is the payment people often call the single-parent pension. Under Services Australia’s eligibility rules, a single parent can get it while they’re the principal carer of a child under 14. For a partnered parent, the youngest child must be under 6.

Family Tax Benefit helps with the cost of raising children through two parts, A and B. Services Australia pays Part A for a dependent child aged 15 or younger, or aged 16 to 19 and meeting the study requirements. Part B is for a couple with one main income and a child under 13, or a single parent or grandparent carer with a child under 18.

JobSeeker Payment, Carer Payment and Carer Allowance are further categories, each with its own end point.

A pension from a superannuation fund isn’t a Centrelink payment. Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 credit guidelines count superannuation pensions at 100% once the fund confirms they’re permanent and ongoing. That includes government superannuation pensions, such as ComSuper and military pensions.

Record five facts from official evidence before you compare lender policy.

1. The exact payment name, such as Age Pension at the couple rate, rather than “pension”.
2. The recipient. Each partner in a couple has their own payment, so name the applicant who receives it.
3. The review status, including any reporting duty or scheduled review. JobSeeker recipients, for example, report every two weeks.
4. The current rate, split into the base payment and each supplement.
5. The expected duration, meaning the date or event that ends eligibility, such as the youngest child turning 14 for single Parenting Payment.

The table shows Services Australia’s maximum fortnightly rates as at October 2026. Parenting Payment and JobSeeker rates apply from 20 September 2026.

Payment	Single, each fortnight	Partnered, each person each fortnight	What the rate includes
Age Pension	$1,237.70	$933.00	Pension Supplement of $88.20 single or $66.50 partnered, and Energy Supplement of $14.10 single or $10.60 partnered
Carer Payment	$1,237.70	$933.00	The same pension rates and supplements as the Age Pension
Parenting Payment	$1,037.50, plus a $30.70 pension supplement	$755.10	Energy Supplement and Rent Assistance can be paid on top
JobSeeker Payment	$824.90, single with no children	$755.10	Higher single rates apply with a dependent child
Carer Allowance	$162.60	$162.60	A supplementary payment on top of other income

These are maximum rates. The client’s statement shows the amount actually paid after the income and assets tests, and the lender assesses that figure. The Age Pension rate page confirms that employment income in the household can reduce the rate.

For home loans for pensioners on Centrelink, the deciding question is whether the named payment keeps being paid. The Age Pension has no end point tied to a child’s age or a job search. Parenting Payment and Family Tax Benefit end as the children grow up.

Income Over the Loan Term

A lender checks whether each payment and the household’s other income continue for the whole loan term, because the repayments don’t fall when a payment stops. Ongoing entitlement means the client keeps meeting the payment’s rules in each later year. Check the income and assets tests, the reporting duty and any age or child-age trigger, then add the household’s wages, super and investment income.

Retirement changes the assessment in two ways. A wage stops, and a partner’s income-tested pension can rise once that wage has gone.

ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 209 covers a consumer who will still be repaying after their expected retirement age. The lender must then work out whether retirement will change their income and by how much (RG 209.64).

Benefit expiry has the same effect on the numbers. Single Parenting Payment stops counting once the youngest child turns 14. Family Tax Benefit stops with the child’s age or schooling, and JobSeeker Payment is only for people under Age Pension age.

Worked Example: A Dated Timeline

This fictional example maps one couple’s income across a 15-year loan. Ray, 61, earns an $82,000 wage. Lin, 67, gets a part Age Pension of $412.00 a fortnight, because the pension income test counts Ray’s wage.

In October 2026, Ray and Lin apply for a $280,000 principal and interest loan to buy a $620,000 unit, putting in $340,000 of savings. That’s a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of about 45%. At an assumed 6.00% interest rate, the repayments are $2,362.80 a month.

Date	Event	Household income before tax	Effect on the loan
October 2026	Application. Ray works full time, and Lin’s statement shows $412.00 a fortnight	$92,712 a year: Ray’s $82,000 wage plus Lin’s $10,712 pension	The lender assesses both incomes over 15 years
Each 20 March and 20 September	Services Australia adjusts pension rates	Lin’s pension moves with indexation and the income test	The lender works from the latest statement
March 2032	Ray turns 67 and plans to retire, so his wage stops	At most $48,516 a year if both get the current maximum couple rate of $933.00 each a fortnight, depending on the income and assets tests	About $206,267 is still owing, with more than nine years left
October 2041	The loan ends. Ray is 76 and Lin is 82	Pension income, plus anything they draw from super	Final repayment

Ray’s retirement is the foreseeable change. After March 2032, the household income falls by roughly half while the repayments stay at $2,362.80 a month.

Ray and Lin can fit the loan to that change in two ways. They can shorten the term to end in March 2032, but the repayments would rise to about $5,056.21 a month. Or they can document an exit strategy, such as repaying the $206,267 balance from Ray’s $310,000 superannuation when he retires.

RG 209 includes a similar case, where a borrower’s superannuation benefit is enough to meet his repayments after he retires (Example 32). The super route leaves Ray and Lin about $103,733 of super after the payout, so their retirement income no longer has to carry a loan.

Evidence and Exit

Collect a current Centrelink statement for every payment the lender will count, plus bank statements showing the payments arriving. Clients can download an income statement, a Centrelink statement or a payment summary through their Centrelink online account in myGov, under Request a document.

Lenders word the evidence rule differently. Westpac’s minimum required documents checklist asks for a government letter or Centrelink statement detailing eligible benefits, as at October 2026. Its full list of eligible benefits sits in its credit policy.

Bluestone’s quick policy guide, last updated 10 November 2025, asks for a letter from the relevant agency confirming the amount and how long it has been paid. It also needs at least one payment credit in the bank statements. Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines verify family allowance through government-issued family allowance statements.

Document	What it proves	Check before you apply
Centrelink income statement	Each payment’s name, recipient and current amount	Every payment you’re counting appears by name
Centrelink statement or agency letter	The current rate and how long the payment has been paid	The format matches what the lender asks for
Bank statements	The payments arrive in the client’s account	Credits match the statement amount and frequency
Payment summary	The annual amount of a taxable payment, such as the Age Pension	The total lines up with the fortnightly rate
Superannuation statement	The balance or pension available at retirement	The balance covers any exit strategy that relies on it
Written exit strategy	How the loan is repaid if income falls before the loan ends	Dates, amounts and sources match the other documents

Each lender sets its own exit strategy trigger, and no single maximum age applies across lenders. Macquarie’s guidelines require an exit strategy from an individual applicant who is 55 or older at application and will be 70 or older when the loan ends. For a couple, the same test applies to any applicant whose income is needed to service the loan.

Bluestone’s guide requires an acceptable exit strategy from every borrower aged 50 or older seeking owner-occupied finance. It also requires independent legal advice for applicants aged 60 or older with owner-occupied security.

Ray and Lin trigger both lenders’ rules. At Macquarie, Ray’s wage is needed for servicing, and he’s 61 now and will be 76 when the loan ends. At Bluestone, both are over 60 and buying a home to live in, so both need an exit strategy and independent legal advice.

Write the exit strategy as a dated plan. Macquarie’s guidelines set principles for a downsizing exit, and they work as a template for other exit routes too.

• Assess the replacement property at its current market value.
• Show that the sale repays all debt on the existing property.
• Use the loan balance at the planned date, based on the minimum contractual repayments.
• Assume no capital growth in the property being sold.
• Give the timeframe, purchase price and location.
• Show that the plan suits the client’s requirements and objectives.

For Ray and Lin’s super exit, the plan names March 2032, the projected $206,267 balance and Ray’s current super statement. The home loan age limit guide explains how lenders treat age and loan term more broadly.

Explain the Lender Decision

A lender approves a pensioner’s home loan only when three separate tests pass: the income it can count, the term its policy allows and the serviceability result. Each test can fail on its own, so pension receipt alone never settles eligibility.

Assessable income is the part of each payment the lender’s policy counts. As at October 2026, Pepper Money’s servicing policy counts Centrelink pensions, such as the Age Pension, at 100%. Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines count family allowance only as supporting or secondary income, and they have no separate row for the Age Pension.

Term policy decides whether the loan can run past retirement or past a payment’s end date, and what exit evidence the lender needs. Serviceability is the lender’s test of whether the household can afford the repayments after living expenses and other debts, which the loan serviceability guide explains.

Pepper Money applies a stricter test when most of the household’s income comes from Centrelink. It caps the LVR at 75% and requires serviceability of at least 1.25 times. A mostly-Centrelink client therefore needs at least a 25% deposit or equal equity at Pepper, so a no-deposit loan isn’t available there.

The no deposit home loan guide covers the routes that reduce the cash a buyer needs.

Here is the difference between assuming eligibility and assessing it, using Lin’s pension.

• Incorrect: Lin gets the Age Pension, so she qualifies for the loan.
• Correct: Pepper counts Lin’s $412.00 a fortnight in full. Ray’s and Lin’s ages trigger an exit strategy at Macquarie and Bluestone, and the household must still pass each lender’s servicing test.

The lender’s own assessment sets the final borrowing figure. Present the client’s file as three answered tests, with the evidence for each.

Classify Centrelink Payments

Yes, you can get a home loan on Centrelink when the lender accepts the exact payment and that payment continues through the loan term. The household’s total income must also cover the repayments and other debts. Sort each payment into a class before you compare lenders, because a continuing pension and a temporary allowance carry different risks.

Payment	Class	What ends it	Consequence if it ends during the loan
Age Pension	Continuing pension	No child-age or job-search end point. The rate moves with indexation and the income and assets tests	The rate can fall if household income or assets rise, so test servicing at the statement amount
Carer Payment	Pension-rate payment	The care ends. It needs care for at least 6 months, or end-of-life care	Income drops to the household’s other sources
Parenting Payment, single	Payment tied to a child’s age	The youngest child turns 14	Remove it from servicing from that date
Parenting Payment, partnered	Payment tied to a child’s age	The youngest child turns 6	Remove it from servicing from that date
Family Tax Benefit Part A	Family payment, paid per child	The child turns 16 and doesn’t meet the study requirements, or turns 20	Remove each child’s share as that child ages out
Family Tax Benefit Part B	Family payment	The youngest child turns 13 for a couple with one main income, or 18 for a single parent or grandparent carer. A child aged 16 or older must meet the study requirements	Remove it from servicing from that date
JobSeeker Payment	Temporary allowance	Earnings rise until the income test reduces it to $0, or the client reaches Age Pension age	Fortnightly income over $150 reduces the payment, so plan servicing without it
Carer Allowance	Supplementary allowance	The person cared for no longer needs daily care	A small amount leaves servicing
Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement	Supplements within the pension total	They’re paid with the pension	List them separately from the base pension so the lender can apply its policy to each line
Rent Assistance	Supplement tied to rent	The client stops paying eligible rent	Leave it out of a purchase where the client stops renting at settlement

Record each payment’s source document and the consequence if it ends during the term. That record shows the lender which income survives each date on the timeline.

Compare lender treatment payment by payment. The matrix uses each lender’s policy as published, with the date shown.

Lender and policy date	Payments named	Share counted	Conditions	Evidence
Pepper Money, as at October 2026	Centrelink pensions, such as the Age Pension. Family Tax Benefit Parts A and B and parenting payments. Foster income	100% for pensions and family payments	Foster income only offsets the foster children’s living expenses. Prime loans need family payments for the next five years or more. Non-conforming loans accept a shorter period if servicing holds once it ends. Rental, sickness and pharmaceutical allowances aren’t used. Mostly-Centrelink households have a 75% LVR cap and 1.25 times servicing	Not set out in the servicing policy
Bluestone, 10 November 2025	Family Tax Benefit (A&B), Parenting Payments, Social Security and Foster Carer Income, listed as other income	Not stated. Bluestone refers brokers to the business development manager (BDM)	Not stated beyond the evidence rule	Agency letter confirming the amount and how long it has been paid, plus at least one bank statement credit
Macquarie, 10 September 2026	Family allowance	100% as supporting or secondary income	The dependent child must be under 11 at application. No separate row for the Age Pension	Government-issued family allowance statements
Westpac, as at October 2026	Eligible benefits listed in Westpac’s credit policy, which also sets the share counted and any conditions	Not stated in the checklist	Not stated in the checklist	Government letter or Centrelink statement detailing eligible benefits

Foster care income shows why the payment label matters. Services Australia can pay Family Tax Benefit to foster parents, and Bluestone lists foster carer income as acceptable other income. Pepper Money uses foster income only to offset the foster children’s living expenses, so none of it services other debts.

A sole parent’s application also turns on deposit and dependants. The single parent home loan guide covers that combined assessment.

Set the household’s income, each payment’s end date and its debts against the matrix. The lenders that remain are those that count the payments the household needs for the full term, with any exit strategy already documented.

Bulma’s Policy Advisor answers which lenders count a named Centrelink payment across 52+ lenders. It quotes the policy wording for your file notes and names the lenders whose policy doesn’t address the payment.