Can I get a home loan on maternity leave?

What the lender needs in writing

• A letter from your employer confirming your return date, position, hours and gross salary on return.
• Payslips from before leave commenced, to evidence the pre-leave income.
• Evidence of paid parental leave entitlements if you are relying on them during the transition.
• Realistic childcare costs — understating them is the most common reason a file is re-assessed later.

Returning part time

If you are returning at three days a week, the lender assesses three days a week. That is not unreasonable, but it means the household needs to service the loan on the reduced income plus childcare — so the honest test is whether the loan works at your real post-return position, not at your pre-baby income.

Where the numbers are tight, the levers that usually work are extending the loan term, restructuring or clearing a car loan or credit card limit, or choosing a lender that assesses your partner's overtime at 100%.

Protecting the approval through to settlement

• Keep the return-to-work plan unchanged between approval and settlement — a deferred return can trigger a re-assessment.
• Do not rely on Paid Parental Leave as ongoing income; it is temporary and lenders treat it that way.
• Build a buffer that covers the gap between leave payments ending and full pay resuming.
• If plans change, tell your broker early — restructuring before settlement is far easier than after.

How XLOANS helps with this scenario

We check the policy before an application is lodged, not after. That means confirming with the lender's own guidelines that your situation fits — tenure, income treatment, credit file, deposit source — so the enquiry on your file is one that has a genuine chance of approval.

Our service costs you $0. We are paid an ongoing commission by the lender for as long as your loan stays with them, which is why reviewing your loan later matters to us as much as settling it now.