Australia’s biggest bank will ignore student debt in mortgage serviceability assessments if it’s nearly repaid, and apply a lower buffer for those due to repay within five years.
CommBank will no longer consider HECS-HELP repayments as an expense if a would-be borrower is on track to pay the debt off within 12 months.
That means graduates and tradies who leaned on the government-provided student loans could find themselves able to borrow significantly more from this week.
“A couple who earn $70,000 each and have HECS repayments that end within 12 months will now be more likely to meet lending criteria, and potentially be able to borrow an additional $36,000,” Madd Loans founder and broker George Samios said.
“A joint couple under…
