Growing family

Your home loan and your growing family

Whether you’re having a baby or planning to start a family, it’s natural to start thinking about the changes this would bring. Often it means handling changing financial commitments while considering or paying off a home loan. We are here to help.

Flexible options to help lower your repayments on parental leave

Living on a reduced income during parental leave can make it difficult for some families to meet their full home loan repayments. There are a number of flexible options to temporarily help ease the financial pressure during this leave period - allowing you to focus on the baby. Visit in branch or speak to a lender to see if the solutions listed here are right for you.
Parental Leave Mortgage Repayment Reduction

If your existing variable home loan has had at least 12 months of Principle & Interest repayments, you could be eligible to reduce your home loan repayments for up to 12 months, while you are on parental leave subject to approval.

Check your eligibility here      

• Your loan must not be in arrears by more than 2 repayments in the last 12 months.
• Your loan to value ratio (the loan amount remaining compared to the property value) must not exceed 90% at the time you apply.
• You can only reduce your minimum repayments by up to 50%, for up to 12 months, during the Parental Leave Mortgage Repayment Reduction period.
• You must have a job to return to after the parental leave period ends. You need a letter from your employer stating the leave period and your recommencement salary.
  
  

If applicable, Westpac’s lenders mortgage insurer must approve the arrangement. 
 

Parental leave repayment reductions are available on a variety of our variable loan products. This option is not available on fixed loan products or interest only repayments. Your borrowings must not exceed your maximum approved limit.
 

Mortgage Repayment Pause

If you’re planning to start a family and can currently afford to pay extra on top of your minimum home loan repayments, it might be a good idea to build up a buffer so you can pause your repayments for a period whilst you’re on parental leave.

Parental Leave Home Lending

If you are looking to take out a new home loan, we recognise paid parental leave and back-to-work salary as a form of income when assessing your application. This type of income could make a difference to your borrowing capacity.

What it means for you

We need to ensure you can comfortably meet your repayments during any parental leave period. So our dedicated lenders will work with you to discuss how you can meet the repayments during this time. Additional sources of income might include:
 

• Your partner’s income
• Paid parental leave
• Government entitlements
• Any savings and investments

As for your return-to-work income, this can be verified with a letter from your employer confirming your return-to-work date and nature of employment (whether it is full time or part-time).
 

Consolidating your debts

Consolidating your credit card debt, car loan or personal loan into your mortgage could be an effective way to reduce your repayments - bearing in mind that the debt will take on the term of the home loan, and your repayment will change as a result.

 

Tools and Resources

Download the Having a baby fact sheet (PDF 227KB) which includes a number of options which could help you manage your finances.