Home Loan With a New Job: Probation and Payslips (2026)

Home loan with a new job: probation, payslips and approval in 2026

Yes, you can get a home loan with a new job, and a number of lenders will approve you while you’re still on probation. Most want at least one full payslip, though three or four will assess on your signed contract. Some want probation finished (about four lenders on our panel), and once you borrow more than 80% of the property’s value, where lenders mortgage insurance applies, the conditions get tighter.

That last point is the one people miss. Everyone who starts a new job asks whether the bank will count their income. The more useful question is how much deposit they have. Two applicants on identical salaries, in identical new roles, can get very different answers purely because of what they’ve saved. Below is how lenders read a job change and what they need to see, plus how to time the application.

Can you get a home loan on probation?

Often, yes. Probation is a trial period at the start of a job, and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance on probation says it often runs 3 to 6 months. An employee on probation keeps the same entitlements as anyone else, and a full-time or part-time employee on probation still accrues paid leave. Lenders don’t all read it the same way.

Most lenders on our panel will accept an applicant on probation, often with conditions such as two consecutive payslips from the new job, 12 months in the same industry, or only a short gap between jobs. Around four lenders on our panel want probation completed before they’ll count the income, but most either accept probation or only require it once you borrow more than 80%. The real dividing line, though, is your deposit.

At or below 80% LVR

Your loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is the loan amount divided by the property’s value. With a deposit of 20% or more, your LVR is 80% or less, no lenders mortgage insurance applies, and the lender decides on its own policy. This is where a new job is easiest to place.

Above 80% LVR

Above 80%, the loan normally needs lenders mortgage insurance, so the file has to suit the mortgage insurer as well as the lender. That’s where probation gets harder. Nearly every lender on our panel accepts probation at or below 80%, and about 25 still do above 80% with LMI, usually with an industry-experience condition. A few lenders on our panel want probation finished before they’ll go above 80%, but most will accept it if you can show 12 months in the same industry. Not every lender draws that line in the same place.

So if you’re on probation and short of a 20% deposit, your industry history does the heavy lifting. Without it, the choice of lender narrows quickly, and more deposit or waiting out probation can be the better answer. We’d rather tell you that in the first ten minutes of a call than after a decline.

How lenders look at a job change

What a lender wants to know is whether your income will keep arriving. Time in the job is only one way of showing that.

Same industry, same kind of role

A nurse moving between hospitals, or an accountant moving between firms, reads as a continuation rather than a fresh start. Lenders count time in the industry as well as time with your current employer. Most lenders on our panel look for 12 months of experience in the same industry or occupation, not the identical role; one wants two years, and a few don’t require it at all.

A change of industry

Moving from, say, truck driving into IT gives the lender no track record to lean on. Expect most lenders to want probation finished first; about 10 on our panel will consider it earlier, and above 80% the field narrows further. Does the new role draw on skills from the old one? Say so in the application.

A pay rise or a pay cut

A pay rise in the same line of work is the easy case. The new salary generally counts once a payslip shows it. A pay cut works the other way: the lower income is what gets assessed, and your borrowing power falls with it. Run both salaries through our borrowing power calculator before you accept.

Gaps between jobs

Short gaps are common, and lenders set different limits. A few want less than a month between jobs, and one allows up to 60 days for contractors who’ve been with their current employer under six months, provided they can show 12 months of income across current and previous employers. For a permanent role, most lenders on our panel accept a gap of up to two months; a few will look past longer gaps, and several don’t consider the gap at all. The gap matters most where the lender is relying on your previous industry experience.

Permanent, fixed-term or casual

A permanent full-time or part-time role gives you the widest choice once probation is behind you. Fixed-term contracts are assessed differently: most lenders want at least six months in the current contract or 12 months in the same industry, and many want at least three months left on the contract at settlement. Contracts with leave entitlements are usually treated like permanent salary; those without leave are typically shaded. Around eight lenders on our panel will accept a contract in its first three months, usually where you can show 12 months in the same industry beforehand. If the new job is casual, our guide to casual employment home loans covers how lenders turn casual payslips into an annual income, and how they treat a second job. If you’re wondering whether you need a permanent job at all, that guide answers it too.

Payslips: why the first one often isn’t enough

Most lenders want a payslip rather than a signed contract. The catch is that your first payslip is often a part-month one. Start on the 20th, get paid at the end of the month, and that payslip covers about ten days of work. It proves you’ve started, but not what you earn in a full month, so most lenders assessing on payslips will want one covering a complete pay cycle.

This can cost weeks. We had a buyer start a new role mid-month, and most lenders wanted a payslip before they’d approve, which pushed the purchase out by about six weeks. A lender that works from the signed contract is the fix, so find one before you hand in your notice.

Payslips also go stale. One lender we use needs both payslips to be under 60 days old at formal approval, and another wants them dated within the last 30 days and supplied consecutively. A file that sits in a queue can have its payslips age out before an assessor opens it. And in July and August, one major bank group also asks for your final payslip from the previous financial year if your new-year payslip doesn’t yet show two full pay cycles.

Documents to have ready

On top of the standard pack, a new-job application needs:

• Your employment contract or letter of offer, signed, showing start date, role, base salary, hours, whether the job is permanent, fixed-term or casual, and the length of any probation.
• Payslips from the new job covering at least one full pay cycle, and two consecutive ones if you have them.
• Your final payslip from your previous employer, showing year-to-date earnings.
• Last financial year’s income statement, downloaded from ATO online services through myGov or the ATO app once your employer has marked it “Tax ready”. Employers have until 14 July to finalise it.
• A short work history with dates, so the lender can see the industry experience behind the move.

If anything in the contract is unusual (an extended probation, a delayed start, an allowance), an employer letter explaining it saves a round of questions. Our home loan document checklist covers the rest.

Timing: apply before you resign, or after you start?

If you haven’t accepted a new job, applying from the one you’re in is the simplest path. Once you’ve signed a new contract, the application has to reflect it: under responsible lending rules the lender must make reasonable inquiries about your financial situation and verify it.

So plan around the start date. A Canberra-region couple we worked with had one partner starting a new role in August. Most lenders wanted a first payslip rather than a signed contract, so the application had to wait for it regardless.

Pre-approval has its own clock. Across our panel, most fully assessed pre-approvals run 90 days, none shortens that for a new job, and a couple of lenders don’t offer pre-approvals at all right now. Pre-approvals and conditional approvals are issued on the basis that your circumstances don’t change, so a job change has to be disclosed and the lender may reassess, even after approval.

Don’t rush a fresh application either. One borrower whose pre-approval had lapsed wanted to reapply while still house-hunting, with his partner about to change jobs. Each application can add an enquiry to your credit file, and a standard finance clause gives you time once there’s a property. So we waited.

Bonus, overtime and commission in a new role

Base salary carries a new-job application. Variable pay usually needs a track record first, from three months at a few lenders to six to twelve months at most others. Overtime and commission are typically shaded to 80%, though essential-services workers get 100% at many lenders. Bonus income usually needs two years of history. Prior industry experience doesn’t shorten the wait for most workers; only essential-services roles get the shorter track record at some lenders.

• At the quicker end, one lender annualises commission and overtime once your payslips show at least three months of year-to-date income and the payment appears on both payslips.
• Some lenders won’t count a time-limited allowance until it’s being paid. One borrower’s $21,000-a-year relocation allowance made the whole scenario work, and the lender wouldn’t count any of it until there was a history of it landing in their account.

Moving from self-employed to a salaried job

Your industry experience is real, but it sits in tax returns rather than payslips. Most lenders on our panel count prior experience in the same industry toward tenure, and your last one to two years of tax returns are the evidence for it alongside the new payslips. Three lenders have no minimum time in the new role at all, and around ten accept three to six months if you can show 12 months in the same industry beforehand. If you’re still trading, see our self-employed home loans page.

Why new-job applications get declined, and how we fix them

In our experience, many new-job declines come down to how the file was put together, or which lender saw it first.

• A part-month payslip lodged as the income evidence. Wait for a full pay cycle, or use a lender that approves subject to the first payslip.
• Probation with less than a 20% deposit. The answer is more deposit or more time, unless a lender that accepts probation above 80% fits your file.
• Payslips that went stale in the queue. We refresh them the moment a file stalls, before the assessor asks.
• The wrong lender first. Three credit enquiries in a couple of months can look like repeated declines even when they weren’t, so we match the lender to your employment before anything is lodged.

A new job and the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets eligible first home buyers purchase with a 5% deposit (2% for eligible single parents and legal guardians) without paying lenders mortgage insurance. There are no income caps and no waitlists. The official scheme page sets no rule on time in your job, but you apply through a participating lender as part of a normal home loan application, so that lender’s employment policy still applies.

A Scheme loan above 80% LVR carries no mortgage insurance, so there’s no insurer deciding whether probation is acceptable. Whether participating lenders apply their above-80% probation rules to Scheme loans is something we check lender by lender. One major bank group applies its mortgage-insured employment test (three months in the job, or 12 months in the same occupation with no more than a two-month gap), while around four participating lenders on our panel have no probation barrier and will take a contract plus at least one payslip. Several others want probation finished or 12 months in the same industry. Timing matters here too: once pre-approved for the Scheme, you have 90 days to find a home and sign a contract of sale, so a job change mid-search can squeeze that window.

The property also has to sit under the Scheme’s property price caps. At September 2026 the NSW caps are $1.5 million in Sydney and the NSW regional centres (including the Newcastle area, the Central Coast and the Illawarra) and $800,000 elsewhere in NSW. Our 5% Deposit Scheme guide for NSW buyers covers eligibility in full.

Changing jobs later in your career

Under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, a lender must assess whether you can repay without substantial hardship. That’s why a new job at 58 raises a question a new job at 30 doesn’t: how the loan is repaid after you stop working. Many lenders don’t ask for a full exit strategy at 55 or under. Selling an investment property to pay out existing debts, downsizing, or a shorter loan term are common answers.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a home loan if I just started a new job?

Yes. A number of lenders will lend in the first weeks of a new permanent job, particularly if you’ve stayed in the same industry. Most want at least one payslip covering a full pay cycle, though three or four will assess on your signed contract. Above 80% LVR, the conditions get tighter.

Can I get a home loan while on probation?

Yes, at most lenders on our panel. Nearly all accept probation at or below 80% LVR, often with two consecutive payslips or 12 months in the same industry. Around four want probation finished. Above 80%, where lenders mortgage insurance applies, about 25 still accept it, usually with an industry-experience condition.

How many payslips do I need after starting a new job?

Most lenders on our panel want two consecutive payslips from the new job; several accept one payslip covering a full pay cycle, and a couple accept a part-month first payslip with the contract. A first payslip covering only part of a pay cycle doesn’t show your full income, so it usually isn’t enough on its own.

Can I use my employment contract instead of a payslip?

At three or four lenders on our panel, yes. Most want a payslip. Buying soon after starting? A lender that works from the contract can save weeks.

Does a gap between jobs affect a home loan?

A gap of a few weeks usually doesn’t. Most lenders on our panel accept a gap of up to two months, a few want less than a month, and several don’t consider the gap at all. Longer gaps narrow your options, so explain the gap in the application.

Should I change jobs before or after applying for a home loan?

If you can, get the loan settled first, then change jobs. If the new job is already signed, tell us before you apply, because the application has to reflect it. Approvals are issued on the basis that your circumstances don’t change, so a job change between pre-approval and settlement has to be disclosed, and the lender may reassess the loan.

How long do you need to be in a new job before applying for a home loan?

There’s no single minimum. Most lenders on our panel want two consecutive payslips from the new job, three or four will assess on the signed contract, and a few want probation finished first, which often means three to six months. With less than a 20% deposit, the conditions get tighter, so your deposit matters as much as the time.

Talk to us before you hand in your notice

Since 2001 we’ve placed borrowers who were weeks into a new job or still on probation, and the result usually turned on which lender saw the file first, and when. If you’re changing jobs and planning to buy, or you’re a first home buyer starting a new role, speak to us before you resign. We work across a panel of 52+ lenders and will tell you which of them suit your situation before anything is lodged.

This article contains general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Your personal financial situation, objectives and needs have not been considered. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. Speak to a qualified mortgage broker for advice tailored to your situation. Mortgage World Australia Pty Ltd is a credit representative (CR No. 396946) of Mortgage Specialists Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence No. 387025).

Patrick O'Brien

Patrick is a Director and a Home Loan Specialist. He has been helping Australians with home loans since 2001. Prior to working as a mortgage broker Patrick was employed by Macquarie Bank for 3 years and also worked as an accountant for a publicly listed company. Patrick’s qualifications include:

Bachelor of Business, UTS Sydney. Majored in accounting and sub-majored in Finance and Marketing.
Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management FNS50310
Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking) FNS40804