What has changed?

Casual income can now be assessed at 100%

Previously, Keystart used 92% of eligible casual income when assessing borrowing capacity.

Now, eligible casual income can be assessed at 100%, provided you’ve been with your employer for at least six months.

If you’re a casual worker with consistent income, this could improve what you’re able to borrow and, for some buyers, make the difference between purchasing now or waiting longer.

More overtime, bonus and commission income can be used

Keystart has increased the amount of eligible overtime, bonus and commission income used in its assessment from 75% to 80%.

It may seem like a small change, but every increase in assessable income can make a difference when you’re close to a lender’s borrowing limit.

Better support for parents on parental leave

For many families, this could be one of the most significant changes.

Previously, applicants generally needed to return to work before their employment income could be included in a home loan assessment.

Under the new policy, Keystart can now assess 80% of your expected return-to-work income, provided you’re returning to work within 24 months of your application.

If you’ve been waiting until returning to work before buying or building, this change could provide much more flexibility.

A fairer approach for self-employed applicants

If you’re self-employed and your income has been growing, this update could work in your favour.

Rather than automatically using the lower of your last two financial years, Keystart will now average them when assessing your income.

This represents a meaningful change in how self-employed applicants are assessed and may improve borrowing capacity for business owners whose income has increased over time.

You’ll still need to provide two full years of financial information.

Higher liquid asset limits

For Keystart’s 100% ownership loans, the maximum liquid asset limit has increased from $35,000 to $50,000.

This means more applicants with savings or other liquid assets may still be eligible for a Keystart loan.

Less paperwork, too

The changes aren’t just about how income is assessed.

Keystart has also reduced some of its minimum documentation requirements, helping to streamline the application process.

Some examples include:

• Standard bank statement requirements reducing from three months to one month in many cases.
• PAYG income statements only being required on a case-by-case basis rather than for every application.
• Centrelink transaction history reducing from three months to one month.
• Child maintenance transaction history reducing from six months to three months.
• Less reliance on additional loan repayment history where recently repaid debts can be verified through comprehensive credit reporting.

For borrowers, this should mean fewer documents to gather and fewer unnecessary hurdles during the application process. Keystart also says its income documentation requirements have reduced from four or five documents in some cases to as few as two or three.

Why does this matter for WA home buyers?

Keystart already offers several pathways to help eligible Western Australians buy sooner, including low-deposit home loans where deposits can be as low as 2%, depending on the loan product and your individual circumstances, without the need for Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

These latest changes address another common barrier: how income is assessed.

You might be earning enough to comfortably manage home loan repayments but still fall short under a lender’s assessment because you’re a casual employee, regularly earn overtime, are on parental leave or you’re self-employed.

The new policy doesn’t guarantee approval. Every application is still subject to Keystart’s eligibility criteria, credit assessment and your individual circumstances.

However, these changes mean some people who may not have qualified previously could now have a stronger opportunity to do so.

Previously told you couldn’t borrow enough? It may be worth checking again.

Lending policies change regularly, and what wasn’t possible six months ago isn’t necessarily the case today.

If you’ve previously been told that you:

• don’t have enough borrowing capacity;
• need to return from parental leave before applying;
• can’t use all of your casual income; or
• are self-employed and your borrowing was limited by a lower previous financial year,

it may be worth reviewing your options again.

The combination of these policy changes and Keystart’s low-deposit loan options could help more Western Australians buy or build a home sooner than they expected.

Lending rules change more often than many people realise. If you’ve been told “not yet” in the past, it doesn’t always mean “never.”

We’ll walk you through what’s changed, explain your options in plain English, and help you understand whether buying sooner could now be possible.

Ray Shanks

Finance Broker

Ray’s career in finance spans over 15 years, before making the move into finance broking. Ray is passionate about helping people into their dream home, whether it’s their first or next, and specialises in working with clients to unlock equity and create opportunities that genuinely align with their goals.