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Australian Lending Policy Reference

Dependant Costs & Borrowing Capacity

Managing the servicing impact of children, dependents, and education costs.

Vetted and updated: 2026ACL 387460 Vetted

Core Assessment Analysis

Every dependent child reduces your borrowing capacity by approximately $40,000 to $60,000 in bank calculators due to the increased HEM floor. If your children attend private schools, the tuition fees are treated as an unchangeable fixed liability and subtracted directly from your net capacity, reducing your borrowing power dollar-for-dollar.

Why Underwriters Focus Here

Tuition fees and dependent support are high-priority obligations that borrowers cannot easily suspend in a financial stress cycle.

Key Outcome Assessment Factors

The number of children, active school fee ledgers, and whether fees are split with a spouse.

Your pathway from here
General Information Only

Lenders verify school fees by auditing transaction statements for direct debit references.

Model Mortgages Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 387460

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