Self-Employed Home Loans
Self-Employed Home Loans can be an important part of a broader borrowing strategy. At Derwent Finance, we help Australian borrowers understand their options, compare suitable lenders from our panel and structure finance around the outcome they are trying to achieve — not simply around a headline rate.
This page is for people researching self employed home loans and related options such as home loan for business owners, company director home loan, self employed mortgage. It explains how this type of finance generally works, who it may suit, the issues that can affect lender approval, common scenarios and the steps involved from initial review through to settlement or funding.
Every application is assessed on its own facts. Property or asset value, income, expenses, existing debts, credit conduct, entity structure and lender policy can all change the outcome. The information below is general and is designed to help you ask better questions before choosing a lender or loan structure.
Who This Is For
- Sole traders
- Company directors
- Business owners
- Partnerships
- Trust beneficiaries
- Contractors through a business structure
- Professionals with incorporated practices
- Borrowers with multiple business entities
Lenders can calculate the same business income differently
Self-employed borrowers may receive income through salary, company profit, trust distributions, dividends or sole-trader earnings. One lender may average two years, another may place more weight on the latest period and another may apply different treatment to retained profits or business liabilities. The income calculation can therefore be as important as the advertised rate.
Add-backs can change assessable income
Certain accounting expenses may be added back to profit under a lender’s policy where they are non-cash, one-off or otherwise accepted. Examples can include eligible depreciation, interest already included elsewhere or specific one-off expenses. Add-backs are lender-specific and should never be assumed without checking the policy and supporting accounts.
Business structure and liabilities matter
A company director may have personal debts as well as liabilities held by a company or trust. Lenders differ in when they include or exclude those commitments. We review the full structure so the application reflects both the income available to the borrower and the debts the lender is likely to assess.
Our Approach
How We Can Help
We start by understanding the full scenario and what you want the finance to achieve. Depending on the transaction, our work can include:
- Review tax returns and financial statements where available
- Review BAS and supporting business documents
- Understand entity ownership and trading history
- Identify lender-acceptable add-backs
- Review business debts and commitments
- Compare one-year versus two-year income policies
- Calculate borrowing capacity across suitable lenders
- Prepare a clear explanation of the business income
Real Situations
Common Scenarios
Self-employed applications are often driven by how income appears across personal and business records. Common scenarios include:
- One year of financial statements
- Company director on a modest salary
- Rapidly growing business income
- Multiple companies or trusts
- Refinancing after becoming self-employed
Step by Step
How the Process Works
Initial strategy call and fact-find
Review relevant income, expenses, liabilities, assets and supporting documents
Identify the main lending objective and any policy constraints
Compare suitable lenders and structures
Present the recommended option, expected repayments, fees and key conditions
Prepare and lodge the application after you decide to proceed
Manage lender questions, valuation or asset checks and approval conditions
Complete documents and settlement or funding
Review the lending again when your circumstances or lender pricing change
Why Derwent Finance?
A loan approval is only one part of the process. Derwent Finance focuses on understanding the objective, comparing lender policy and helping manage the application from initial strategy through to settlement. We assist borrowers across Australia with home loans, refinancing, investment, construction, self-employed, complex, commercial and business finance scenarios.
Where the best outcome is to keep an existing loan or wait until the borrower’s position changes, the recommendation should reflect that rather than moving a loan simply to create a transaction.
Ready to understand your options? Book a Strategy Call with Derwent Finance. We can review your current position, what you want to achieve and which lending pathways may be available.
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General information only. Credit assistance is subject to individual circumstances and lender criteria. Interest rates, fees, lender policy, government schemes and eligibility can change without notice. This website does not provide legal, taxation or financial advice. Content last reviewed: August 2026.
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