How much can I borrow with HomeStart?

HomeStart Finance is the South Australian government low deposit home lender, and one of the most common questions buyers have is simply how much they can borrow through it. At its core the answer works like any lender, your income, expenses, debts and deposit drive the number. What makes HomeStart different is a set of features that can stretch that budget further than a mainstream lender, while still keeping you within sensible limits.

The basics of how borrowing power is worked out

Every lender, HomeStart included, starts from your capacity to repay. It looks at your income, subtracts your living expenses and your existing commitments such as loans and credit card limits, and applies a serviceability buffer to check you could still cope if interest rates rose. Your deposit then determines how much of the property value you need to borrow. None of that is unique to HomeStart, it is the standard foundation that every responsible lender uses.

What HomeStart does differently

HomeStart was set up by the South Australian government to help more South Australians into home ownership, and it has a few features that change the picture in your favour.

• It does not charge Lenders Mortgage Insurance on any loan, which removes a cost that mainstream lenders apply to low deposit loans.
• It lends for owner occupied homes in South Australia only, not for investment properties or interstate.
• It focuses on lower to moderate income buyers, and offers additional loans designed to bridge deposit and budget gaps.
• Some HomeStart products use alternative repayment structures aimed at keeping early repayments manageable.

The booster loans that can lift your budget

This is where HomeStart can stretch your borrowing further than a normal lender. On top of a standard HomeStart home loan, eligible buyers can access an additional loan, either the Advantage Loan or the Starter Loan, that can boost the budget by up to around 25 per cent. The Advantage Loan in particular is designed so that it does not add to your monthly repayments, because it is repaid only once your main home loan is paid off. To access it you generally need to have already borrowed your maximum standard home loan amount.

The practical effect is that a buyer who would fall just short with a mainstream lender may be able to reach the budget they need through HomeStart, without their monthly repayments rising to match. That is a genuinely different proposition from simply being told no by a bank.

How income is assessed

Your income is the engine of your borrowing power. HomeStart looks at your regular, reliable income, and importantly it can include certain Centrelink benefits as part of that, which not every lender does. If your income is variable, such as overtime, commission or casual earnings, a lender will usually want to see a track record before counting it fully. The steadier and more provable your income, the more confidently it can be used.

How your existing debts and limits reduce it

The things that trim your borrowing power with HomeStart are the same ones that apply anywhere. Existing debts reduce it, and a credit card is generally assessed on its limit rather than its balance, so even an unused card counts against you. A student loan repayment is treated as a committed expense, and your declared living expenses feed directly into the assessment. Tidying these up before you apply, by trimming card limits and clearing small debts, can make a real difference to your number.

The maximum combined loan

There is a ceiling on the total. As at 2026, the combined value of a HomeStart home loan and an additional loan generally cannot exceed 850,000 dollars. That cap was lifted during 2025 and 2026 as house prices rose, which is a good reminder that HomeStart figures change over time, so the current limit is always worth confirming with HomeStart directly rather than relying on an older number.

Buying versus building

How much you can borrow also interacts with whether you are buying an established home or building a new one, because the deposit requirements differ and building brings its own structure of staged payments. If you are building, your borrowing is arranged as a construction loan that releases funds in stages, which changes how interest builds during the build. It is worth factoring that in when you think about your overall budget.

Why a broker helps work out your HomeStart figure

HomeStart has its own products, eligibility rules and booster loans, and it sits alongside mainstream lenders and the federal deposit schemes. A broker can work out what you might borrow through HomeStart, whether the Advantage or Starter loans apply to you, and how that compares with other options, so you choose the path that genuinely suits you. For most home loans this guidance is at no cost to you, because the lender pays the broker on settlement.