Borrowing power · October 2026
Can I get a home loanwith HECS debt?
Yes. It costs you about $45,496 of borrowing on $100,000, and much more on a bigger salary.
We priced the same person twice with nine big lenders on 19 October 2026: once with no HECS, once carrying a $30,000 balance. Same salary, no other debts, no kids, a home to live in with a 20% deposit. On $100,000 the middle lender went from $522,171 to $476,675. On $200,000 it went from $995,808 to $796,388. The balance was the same both times. What changes is the compulsory repayment, which rises with income.
- HECS cost, $75k
- −$8k
- HECS cost, $100k
- −$45k
- HECS cost, $148k
- −$121k
- HECS cost, $200k
- −$199k
With and without, at each salary
The middle figure from nine lenders for one person, then the same person with a $30,000 HECS balance.
| Salary | No HECS | With $30,000 HECS | Drop | Range with HECS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | $382,491 | $374,365 | −$8,126 (2%) | $349,344–$415,163 |
| $100,000 | $522,171 | $476,675 | −$45,496 (9%) | $470,416–$520,623 |
| $148,000 | $756,063 | $635,264 | −$120,799 (16%) | $624,288–$686,664 |
| $200,000 | $995,808 | $796,388 | −$199,420 (20%) | $782,617–$858,019 |
| $151,000, two incomes | $731,080 | $710,912 | −$20,168 (3%) | $699,517–$773,880 |
The couple row has one partner carrying the HECS. Each figure is the lenders’ own number, to the dollar. The salary pages have the no-HECS figures lender by lender, for example on $100,000.
Lender by lender on $100,000
How much each lender took off for the $30,000 balance. Biggest cut first.
| Lender | No HECS | With HECS | Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firstmac | $568,865 | $520,623 | −$48,242 |
| Macquarie | $528,038 | $482,102 | −$45,936 |
| St.George | $523,799 | $478,223 | −$45,576 |
| ING | $516,916 | $471,380 | −$45,536 |
| Westpac | $522,887 | $477,391 | −$45,496 |
| ANZ | $522,171 | $476,675 | −$45,496 |
| CommBank | $521,518 | $476,049 | −$45,469 |
| Bankwest | $521,182 | $475,844 | −$45,338 |
| NAB | $515,247 | $470,416 | −$44,831 |
The row with a green dot is the lender that took the least off. The lenders are close to each other on this, because they all start from the same compulsory repayment. Where they differ is everything else, which is why the no-HECS figures are $50,207 apart on the same person.
Why the hit grows with your salary
HECS is repaid through the tax system as a percentage of your income, and the percentage steps up as you earn more. A lender takes that repayment off your after-tax pay before working out what is left for a mortgage, the same way it treats a car loan. On $75,000 the repayment is small, so the balance costs you $8,126 of loan. On $200,000 it is a large slice of pay, so the same balance costs $199,420. Most lenders never look at the balance itself. Two people on the same salary with $10,000 and $60,000 owing usually get the same answer.
That also says when paying it off before you apply makes sense. On $148,000, $30,000 of savings buys about $120,799 of borrowing. On $75,000 it buys $8,126 and leaves you $30,000 short on the deposit. HECS carries indexation but no interest, so this is a borrowing-power decision rather than an interest one. What it costs to service the loan you end up with is on the repayments pages.
Questions
Can I get a home loan with HECS debt?
Yes. Every one of the nine lenders we priced would lend to a person with a $30,000 HECS balance. What changes is how much. On $100,000 the middle lender went from $522,171 without HECS to $476,675 with it, on 19 October 2026. HECS is not a black mark on your credit file. It is a compulsory repayment that comes out of your pay, and lenders count it as an expense.
Does HECS debt affect getting a home loan?
It affects how much you can borrow, not whether you can. The compulsory repayment is a percentage of your income, and the percentage rises as you earn more. So the hit grows with income: about $8,126 on $75,000, $45,496 on $100,000, $120,799 on $148,000 and $199,420 on $200,000, for the same $30,000 balance. These are the middle lender's figures across nine lenders.
Is HECS taken into account for a home loan?
Yes, by every lender. They take the compulsory repayment for your income off your after-tax pay before working out what is left for a mortgage. Most do not look at the balance itself, only the repayment, which is why a $30,000 balance and a $60,000 balance often cost the same borrowing power on the same income. A few lenders do ask how long is left on it.
Should I pay off my HECS before buying a house?
Sometimes, and the numbers here show when. On $148,000, clearing a $30,000 balance lifts the middle lender's figure by $120,799, so $30,000 of savings buys about $120,799 of loan. On $75,000 the same $30,000 lifts it by only $8,126, and you have also spent $30,000 of deposit. HECS carries no interest, only indexation, so paying it early is a borrowing-power decision, not an interest one. A broker can run both versions on your own numbers.
Can you buy a house with HECS debt as a couple?
Yes. For a couple on $151,000 combined where one partner carries $30,000 of HECS, the middle lender went from $731,080 to $710,912, a drop of $20,168. The hit is smaller than for a single person on a similar total because the repayment is worked out on the one partner's income, not the household's.
Is this what I would be approved for?
No. It is what each lender's calculator said for one example household with one HECS balance. Approval depends on the rest of your file: your real spending, your debts, your deposit, the property and your credit history. A lender assesses it, and a licensed broker submits it.
Priced 19 October 2026, re-run with the borrowing power corpus. Each figure is the most a lender’s own calculator said it would lend to one example household: variable, principal and interest, 30 years, a home to live in at 80% LVR, living costs declared at $1,000 a month so each lender uses its own floor, no other debts, no kids, and for the HECS run a $30,000 HECS-HELP balance on applicant one. The nine lenders are CommBank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Macquarie, Bankwest, St.George, ING, Firstmac. They are a guide, not an assessment of you.
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A broker at 1st Street runs the same lender calculators on your real income, HECS, debts and deposit, and tells you which ones say yes.
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