Top tips to buy a house together as a couple

Buying a house together means your income combines but so does your credit history, your spending habits, and your future plans.

The lender will assess both of you as a single borrowing unit. One partner's unpaid defaults or casual employment can affect how much you can borrow together, even if the other earns a high salary with perfect credit. Understanding how joint applications work helps you prepare before applying rather than discovering issues during assessment.

How lenders assess joint borrowing capacity

Your combined income increases how much you can borrow, but lenders also add your combined living expenses, debt repayments, and credit commitments.

Consider a couple where one partner earns $95,000 as a full-time marketing coordinator and the other earns $68,000 as a casual teacher. Their combined income is $163,000. The marketing coordinator has a $12,000 car loan and a $6,000 credit card limit. The teacher has a $4,500 buy-now-pay-later balance and a $15,000 HECS debt. The lender will assess their capacity to service a loan at a rate at least 3 percentage points above the actual product rate, subtract all monthly commitments including minimum credit card repayments, and apply a benchmark living expense figure or their declared expenses, whichever is higher. In this scenario, the casual income may be shaded or excluded if employment hasn't been continuous for at least 12 months, which reduces borrowing capacity further. The couple might borrow around 5 to 5.5 times their combined net assessable income after all adjustments, but each lender applies different serviceability models.

Structuring your deposit and handling unequal contributions

Most couples don't contribute equally to the deposit. One partner might have more savings, or one set of parents might offer a guarantor arrangement or cash gift.

Lenders don't require you to contribute 50-50, but they do require you to show genuine savings or an acceptable source for the deposit. If one partner contributes $60,000 and the other contributes $20,000 toward an $80,000 deposit, the loan can still proceed as a joint application. What matters is that the total deposit meets the lender's requirements and that all funds are explained with supporting statements. If parents are gifting money, most lenders require a signed statutory declaration confirming the funds are a gift, not a loan. If one partner is concerned about asset protection in the event of separation, that's a legal matter to discuss with a solicitor before settlement, not something the lender will structure into the loan.

Pre-approval helps lock in your borrowing position

A home loan pre-approval gives you a conditional approval amount before you start looking at properties. Pre-approval is valid for three to six months depending on the lender.

For couples, pre-approval reveals any issues early. If one partner has a default or unclear employment income, you'll know before making an offer. In our experience, couples who apply for pre-approval together often discover that one partner's credit file shows an overdue utility account from a share house, or that one partner's ABN income needs two years of tax returns rather than one. Fixing these issues before you find a property means you're not scrambling to satisfy lender conditions while trying to meet a settlement deadline.

What happens if one partner has a lower credit score

If one partner has missed payments, defaults, or a low credit score, the application will be assessed on both credit files. Lenders can't ignore one applicant's credit history just because the other has a clean record.

Some lenders are more flexible with minor credit issues if they've been paid and the rest of the application is solid. Others will decline the application outright or offer a higher interest rate. If one partner has serious credit impairment, it might make sense to delay the application until the issue is resolved or to apply with only one borrower on the loan, though that reduces borrowing capacity. A broker can tell you which lenders are likely to accept the application and which will decline it before you apply, so you're not generating multiple credit enquiries that further damage the credit file.

Fixed, variable, or split rate for joint borrowers

Couples buying together can choose a variable rate, fixed rate, or split loan structure. A variable rate gives you flexibility to make extra repayments and access features like an offset account. A fixed rate locks in your repayment amount for one to five years, which helps with budgeting if one partner has irregular income. A split loan combines both.

If one partner is on casual or commission-based income, a fixed rate can provide certainty during the initial years when job changes or income fluctuations are more likely. If both partners are on stable salaries and want to pay down the loan faster, a variable rate with an offset account linked to your transaction account can reduce the interest you're charged each month without locking you into a rigid structure. A split rate lets you fix a portion for stability and keep the rest variable for flexibility, though it does mean managing two loan accounts.

Government schemes for first home buyers in Melbourne

Melbourne first home buyers can access the Victorian First Home Buyer duty exemption on properties up to $600,000, with a concession available on properties between $600,001 and $750,000. You can also apply for the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, which allows you to buy with a 5% deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance, provided the property value is within the scheme cap for Victoria.

The 5% Deposit Scheme has a price cap of $950,000 for Melbourne and regional centres including Geelong, and $650,000 for other areas in Victoria. Both partners must be Australian citizens or permanent residents, and neither of you can have previously owned property in Australia. The scheme is available through participating lenders only, so not every bank offers it. If you're also eligible for Help to Buy, you can't combine both schemes, but you can use either scheme alongside the Victorian stamp duty concession. You also can't use the 5% Deposit Scheme if you're accessing a family guarantee that brings your deposit contribution below 5% of the property value.

What to prepare before applying for a home loan together

Both applicants need to provide payslips, tax returns if self-employed, bank statements showing genuine savings, and identification. Lenders will also ask for details of all liabilities including credit cards, personal loans, buy-now-pay-later accounts, and HECS debts.

If one partner is self-employed, most lenders require two years of individual or business tax returns plus recent business activity statements or a letter from an accountant. If one partner is on a working visa, the lender will need to see visa documentation and may require a larger deposit or restrict the loan term to match the visa expiry unless permanent residency is likely. If either of you has changed jobs in the past six months, some lenders will still assess the income but may require a letter from your employer confirming the role is ongoing. The more documentation you provide upfront, the faster the assessment.

Should both names go on the property title

If you're both applying for the loan, both names will typically go on the property title as joint tenants or tenants in common. Joint tenants means you each own the whole property and if one partner dies, ownership automatically passes to the other. Tenants in common means you each own a specified share, which can be unequal, and your share forms part of your estate if you die.

Most couples buying together choose joint tenants. If you're contributing unequal deposits or one partner is bringing family money into the purchase, tenants in common with specified shares might make more sense. That's a conversation to have with a conveyancer or solicitor before settlement, as the lender doesn't control how the title is structured. The loan itself will be joint and several, meaning both of you are fully liable for the full debt regardless of how the title is held.

Call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll review both applicants together, show you what you can borrow, and help you apply for a home loan that's structured around your combined position.

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