How long does home loan pre-approval take?

Pre-approval timing has two halves, and only one of them is the lender's fault. The first half is preparation: collecting your documents, confirming your figures and choosing which lender to apply to. The second half is assessment. Borrowers tend to measure only the second half and then wonder why their friend's pre-approval came back in 48 hours and theirs took a fortnight.

Not all pre-approvals are the same thing

An online, instantly-issued “pre-approval” is often just a serviceability calculation with no human assessment and no credit check — useful as an estimate, worth very little to a selling agent. A fully assessed pre-approval means a credit assessor has read your documents, run your credit file and recorded a decision subject only to a valuation. Those are the ones worth having, and they're the ones that take a few days. If you're bidding at auction, insist on the second kind.

What makes a file fast

Salaried PAYG income, two recent payslips, clean transaction accounts, no undisclosed debts, and a single applicant with straightforward identification. Files like that are frequently approved inside two to four business days, and occasionally same day where the lender's system can verify income digitally.

What makes a file slow

Self-employed income needing two years of returns and financials. Bonus, commission or overtime income that must be evidenced over time. A credit file with a default, a missed payment or a cluster of recent enquiries. Overseas income. Trust or company structures. A guarantor, who needs their own assessment. And, most commonly of all, documents supplied in pieces over two weeks — every follow-up request sends the file back to the bottom of the queue.

How long it lasts

Most pre-approvals are valid for three months, with some lenders offering six. Extensions are normally possible but usually require updated payslips and a fresh look at your file, and in some cases a new credit enquiry. Plan on it expiring, and tell us if your search is running long so we can extend it before it lapses rather than after.

Pre-approval is not approval

It says the lender is satisfied with you, not with the property. Once you have a contract, the lender orders a valuation and confirms nothing material has changed — so a valuation shortfall, a property type the lender won't accept, a new car loan, or a change of employer can all still derail it. Keep your finances boringly stable between pre-approval and settlement, and check the property type with us before you fall in love with it.

How to compress the timeline

Send everything at once. Payslips, two years of returns if you're self-employed, three months of statements for every account and every debt, identification, and the exact figures for your savings and limits. We package the file the way that lender's assessors want to receive it, put it with a lender whose policy already fits your income, and chase it daily. That combination is usually the difference between days and weeks.

The information on this website is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and normal lending criteria apply. Rates are subject to change.