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How much you can borrow
The amount you borrow under the Home Equity Access Scheme, plus costs and interest, is a debt to the Commonwealth.
The most you can borrow through the scheme is the maximum loan amount (MLA). We work out your MLA using both:
- your or your partner’s age, whoever is younger
- the equity you own in the property you offer as security.
Your loan payments will stop if you reach the MLA. You can choose a MLA that is lower than the amount we calculate.
We can pay you the loan as a regular amount every fortnight, an advance payment, or both. We’ll charge compounding interest fortnightly on your loan balance until you repay it in full.
The loan balance includes all of the following amounts, minus any repayments you make:
- loan amounts you got from us
- costs paid by the Commonwealth
- accumulated interest.
If you have a partner, we need your partner’s consent for you to claim the Home Equity Access Scheme payments. We need this even if your partner isn’t on the title for the property used as security.
What real estate you can use as security
You must offer an Australian real estate you own or co-own as security for the loan. It can also be real estate owned by a company or a trust. The Commonwealth will place a charge or a caveat on the title deed to your property. You must pay costs to register and remove charges or caveats. We add these costs to your loan balance.
We may give some information about your loan to the co-owners of the property. This will allow them to agree to the loan and any charges or caveats on the property. If you’re concerned about another person having access to this information, tell us. You can discuss your situation with a social worker.
If you have a stake in a property owned by a company or trust, you can use it as security. But, the company or trust must agree to cover your full loan.
What happens if you want to sell the property
You can either:
- transfer the loan to another property including your new home
- repay the loan on the date of settlement.
What happens if you die
Your executor will need to contact us to repay your loan from your estate.
If you have a surviving partner at the time of your death, we can defer the recovery of the loan. We can defer it until after their death if your partner is both:
- Age Pension age or older
- still using the property, for example, to live in or to get income.
What you need to do during the loan term
You must notify us if any of the following happens:
- the title details of the property change
- you wish to sell the property
- you plan to use the property to guarantee another loan for yourself or another person
- you or any co-owner of the property becomes bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement
- the insured value of the property falls below the market value of all buildings on the property.
Use the Home Equity Access Scheme variation form to do this.