How Lenders Assess Rental Income for a Home Loan

Lenders assess rental income for a home loan by counting only part of the verified rent. They then test whether the client can afford every repayment once the investment loan is added.

For long-term rent, Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 credit guidelines count 75% of gross rent. MyState’s lending procedure, effective 1 July 2026, also counts 75%, and BankVic’s July 2026 underwriting guidelines count 80%.

Short-stay income, such as Airbnb earnings, counts for less in serviceability at all three lenders: 65% at Macquarie and MyState, and 70% of net income at BankVic. For an investment property loan based on rental income, the lender’s choice of rent figure and its expense rule can move the result by thousands of dollars a year.

Establish the Rental Figure

Start with the gross rent the lender can verify, before management fees or any other deductions. Which document supplies that figure depends on whether the property is already rented or is being bought.

For a proposed purchase, the lender reads a forecast or the lease in the contract, and the three lenders below take the lower figure when the evidence differs. For an established rental, it reads what the tenant actually pays.

Proposed Purchases

Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines use the lesser of three figures for a property that will secure its loan. One is the rent in Macquarie’s own valuation.

Another is a licensed agent’s estimate no more than 60 days old, using the lower end of any range. The third is a current arm’s-length lease shown in the contract of sale.

MyState’s procedure, effective 1 July 2026, accepts a contract that discloses an existing tenancy, a panel valuer’s rental assessment or an agent’s rental appraisal. When the property isn’t tenanted, MyState uses the lower of the appraisal and the valuer’s figure. BankVic’s July 2026 guidelines also take the lower of an agent’s estimate and a full sworn valuation.

The same rule covers a client who buys a new home and rents out the current one. MyState uses the lower of the appraisal and the valuer’s assessment for that property too. A valuer’s rental assessment in the bank valuation can therefore set the rent figure when it comes in below the appraisal.

Established Rentals

For a property that is already rented, Macquarie accepts any one of these documents.

• A rental statement addressed to the borrower and no more than 60 days old.
• A current executed lease through an agent. An expired lease isn’t accepted.
• The most recent tax return.
• An annual rental statement for the latest financial year.
• Bank statements showing at least three months of rental credits.

MyState accepts a one-month property manager statement, or three months when the regular rent isn’t clear from one. It also accepts six months of transaction statements identifying the rent, the latest tax return if the same owners still hold the property, or the lease.

Reconcile the Documents

Each document measures rent at a different point, so they rarely show the same number. Line them up before you choose a figure.

This fictional property was leased at $600 a week until March 2026, when a new lease set the rent at $650 a week. The agent pays management fees and strata levies before transferring the balance.

Document	What it shows	Use in the assessment
Current lease (March 2026)	$650 a week, or $33,800 a year	Supports the current gross rent
Agent statement for September 2026	$2,817 of rent collected, then fees and strata deducted	Confirms the tenant is paying the lease rent
Bank credits	$2,350 a month after the agent’s deductions	Confirms payment, but understates gross rent
2024-25 tax return	$31,200 of gross rent at the old $600 a week	Out of date after the rent increase
Agent appraisal	$680 a week	Not on Macquarie’s or MyState’s list for a tenanted property

The current lease and the agent statement agree, so $33,800 a year is the gross rent to assess. The bank credits are lower because the agent deducts costs first. The Australian Taxation Office’s rental income guidance also has owners report gross rent before those fees.

The higher appraisal doesn’t lift the figure, because the client receives $650 a week under the lease. The older tax return would understate the rent, which is why the current lease and statement carry the file.

Apply Policy Adjustments

Lenders apply a shading rate to the gross rent, which is the share of rent they count. Shading allows for vacant weeks, letting costs and property expenses without itemising each one.

Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines and MyState’s 1 July 2026 procedure both count 75% of long-term rent. When property expenses exceed 20% of gross rent, both switch to 95% of gross rent, less the actual expenses.

Read the two rules together and the 75% splits into a 20% expense allowance and 5% for everything else, such as vacant weeks. When actual expenses replace the 20%, the 5% allowance stays. BankVic’s July 2026 guidelines count 80% of gross long-term rent, and its income table has no separate expense test.

Long-Term Rent and Short-Stay Income

Long-term rent rests on a lease and a steady payment record. Short-stay income comes from bookings that change with the season, so these three lenders count less of it.

Lender and policy date	Short-stay income counted	Evidence
Macquarie, 10 September 2026	65% of gross, or gross less 15% less actual expenses when expenses exceed 20%	The verification list for existing rentals, including the latest tax return
MyState, 1 July 2026	65% of gross from the tax return, or 85% of gross less expenses when expenses exceed 20%	Latest tax return and notice of assessment, no more than 18 months old
BankVic, July 2026	70% of historical net income, after cleaning, letting and other fees	Platform statement, such as Airbnb or Stayz, covering the previous 12 months

The same arithmetic leaves short-stay income a 15% allowance outside expenses, because 85% less a 20% expense allowance is 65%. MyState’s procedure counts the full expenses from the tax return, excluding depreciation and interest. Macquarie’s 65% rate also covers holiday letting, serviced apartments and room rentals.

For Airbnb and other short-stay income, compare four records before you choose a figure.

1. Platform receipts for the latest 12 months show gross bookings and the platform’s fees.
2. Occupancy history shows booked nights by month, which tells you whether a strong season is carrying the year.
3. The tax return shows the rent and expenses the lender may read directly.
4. Manager statements show cleaning, letting fees and other costs a short-stay manager deducts.

Short-stay platforms have reported their hosts’ income to the ATO twice a year since 1 July 2023, under the Sharing Economy Reporting Regime. Expect the tax return to match the platform’s records for the same year. Explain any gap between the tax year and the latest 12 months in your file notes.

Then check whether the lender uses the short-stay income or an evidenced long-term market rent. Macquarie, MyState and BankVic each count short-stay income on its own evidence.

MyState’s short-stay rule needs a tax return and notice of assessment. A newly bought property at MyState can only use the evidence in its standard residential rule: a contract showing the tenancy, a valuer’s rental assessment or an agent’s appraisal.

Worked Example: Three Rent Inputs

This fictional example keeps gross rent, the vacancy allowance and property expenses as separate inputs. It applies Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 rules to a proposed long-term rental, then MyState’s 1 July 2026 rules to an existing short-stay apartment.

Priya is buying an untenanted unit as an investment. Macquarie’s valuation puts rent at $620 a week, and an agent’s appraisal dated 20 days before submission gives $600 to $650 a week. Macquarie uses $600 a week, the lower end of the appraisal, because it is the lowest figure.

Her property expenses are $9,300 a year: strata $3,400, council rates $1,900, water $800, landlord insurance $700 and management fees $2,500. Those expenses come to 29.8% of gross rent, so Macquarie applies the actual figure.

Input	Amount a year
Gross rent at $600 a week	$31,200
Less the 5% allowance for vacancy and other loss	-$1,560
Less actual property expenses	-$9,300
Rent counted in servicing	$20,340

At 75% of gross rent, the figure would have been $23,400. The higher expenses cost Priya $3,060 of counted income.

Priya also owns an apartment she lets on Airbnb. Her 2024-25 tax return shows $49,400 of gross rent. Bookings are uneven: January filled 27 nights and June filled 9, for 61% occupancy across the latest 12 months.

Her tax-return expenses, excluding interest and depreciation, come to $18,280. They are cleaning $7,200, platform fees $1,480, utilities and internet $2,900, strata $3,600, council rates $2,000 and insurance $1,100.

That is 37% of gross rent, so MyState uses 85% of gross less the actual expenses. Macquarie’s formula for short-stay income gives the same figure here.

Input	Amount a year
Gross short-stay rent from the 2024-25 tax return	$49,400
Less the 15% allowance for vacancy and booking variability	-$7,410
Less actual property expenses	-$18,280
Short-stay income counted in servicing	$23,710

Her platform statement for the latest 12 months shows $54,600 of gross bookings. MyState still reads the tax return, so the stronger recent year doesn’t raise the figure. BankVic’s 12-month platform rule would start from the recent bookings instead.

An agent appraises the same apartment at $520 a week on a long-term lease, or $27,040 a year. Long-term expenses would be lower, at $8,600 without cleaning, utilities or platform fees. With $1,900 of management fees added to strata, rates and insurance, that is still 31.8% of gross rent.

Input	Amount a year
Gross long-term rent at $520 a week	$27,040
Less the 5% allowance for vacancy and other loss	-$1,352
Less actual property expenses	-$8,600
Long-term rent counted in servicing	$17,088

The long-term basis counts $6,622 a year less than the short-stay income. If the lender’s policy uses long-term rent, or Priya switches to a long-term lease, servicing loses that amount.

Avoid Double Counting

Count each dollar of rent, each property cost and each loan repayment once. Double counting happens when a net figure from one document meets a deduction from another.

Net Credits Against Expenses

Bank credits and some agent statements show rent after the agent has paid fees and strata. In the fictional property above, the bank credits are $2,350 a month, or $28,200 a year.

If you enter $28,200 as rent and then deduct management fees and strata as expenses, those costs come off twice. Enter the $33,800 of gross rent and apply the lender’s expense rule once.

Expenses Inside the Shading Rate

When Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines or MyState’s procedure count 75% of gross rent, that rate already allows for ordinary property expenses. MyState’s procedure, effective 1 July 2026, adds a property’s costs to living expenses only where its net rental calculation doesn’t capture them, such as a holiday home with no rent.

Don’t add the rates, strata and insurance on a rented property to the client’s living expenses as well. Where the expenses exceed 20% of gross rent, they come off the rent in the lender’s formula instead.

Interest, Depreciation and Loan Repayments

The net rent on a tax return is reduced by loan interest and depreciation. The lender already counts the investment loan’s repayments as a commitment, so using that net rent would count the interest twice. MyState’s procedure excludes interest and depreciation from the short-stay expenses it deducts.

Macquarie’s guidelines assess an existing loan at the higher of the declared repayment and a repayment at its assessment rate over the remaining principal-and-interest term. The loan serviceability guide explains how that buffered repayment is set.

Ownership, Business Income and Housing Costs

Count rent in line with the client’s share of the property. Macquarie’s guidelines count rental income by ownership share, and the ATO taxes it by legal ownership.

Macquarie also assesses rent that sits inside self-employed business income under its rental income rules. Take it out of business profit before you add it as rent, or it counts in both places.

A client who lives rent-free with family still carries a housing cost in servicing. Macquarie applies a notional rent of $650 a month per household when the declared rent is lower.

BankVic’s July 2026 guidelines use the higher of the actual payment and $650 a month. Rent the client pays for their own home is a separate commitment.

Dividends, managed-fund distributions and interest are investment income, not rental income. The investment income guide explains how lenders count them.

Prepare the File

Assemble the documents that let an assessor reproduce your rent figure line by line. The list depends on whether the rent is long-term, short-stay or proposed.

Document	Needed for	What it proves
Current executed lease	Established long-term rentals	The rent, the start date and the end date
Agent statements	Established long-term rentals	Rent collected and the agent’s deductions
Bank statements	Established rentals	Rent is being received
Valuation and agent appraisal	Proposed purchases and homes being converted to rentals	The forecast rent, with the lower figure used
Latest tax return and notice of assessment	Established and short-stay rentals	Gross rent and expenses for the year
Platform statements for 12 months	Short-stay rentals	Gross bookings, fees and nights booked
Short-stay manager statements	Managed short-stay rentals	Cleaning, letting fees and other costs
Council rates, strata levies and insurance	Every rental	The property expenses the lender’s formula uses
Title search or contract	Every rental	The client’s ownership share
Loan statements	Existing investment loans	The balance, repayment and remaining term
Lender policy and its date	Every application	The shading rate and evidence rule you applied

Record which lender policy you used and its date, such as Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines, because shading rates and evidence rules change between versions. Bulma quotes the lender’s rental income policy wording and shows the date Bulma last updated that policy. You can copy the quoted wording into your file notes beside the lender’s own policy date.

Before you submit, set out the rent calculation line by line, as in the worked example. If any line has no document behind it, get that document or use the lower figure the documents support.