By Chaice Paterson, CEO & Founder, Low Deposit Homes | Updated June 2026

If you send money home to family in Africa, here’s the honest answer to the question that worries so many buyers: remittances reduce your borrowing capacity, but they do not disqualify you. Lenders treat regular money sent overseas as a committed outgoing — much like a subscription or a loan repayment — so it lowers how much you can borrow, but it’s a normal, manageable part of an application, not a red flag. With the federal 5% Deposit Scheme (5% deposit, zero LMI) and the state stack, an African family that supports relatives back home can still buy a brand-new home. Low Deposit Homes builds across Queensland and Victoria and will match you to the corridor that suits your work, family and budget. This is the canonical guide for the whole African community — whether you send money to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan or anywhere else. The key is planning around your remittances honestly rather than hiding them.

How do lenders actually treat remittances?

When a lender works out how much you can borrow, it adds up your income and subtracts your commitments and living expenses. Regular remittances fall on the commitments side: if you reliably send money to family each month, a lender usually factors that into your assessed expenses, which reduces your maximum loan. That’s the whole effect — a smaller borrowing capacity, not a declined application.

What lenders care about is consistency and honesty. Money leaving your account every month that you haven’t declared raises questions; the same money, declared and explained as family support, is simply part of your financial picture. We never invent a dollar-impact figure for remittances — the effect depends on the amount, your income and the lender — but we plan around the real number rather than pretending it isn’t there.

Should I stop sending money home before I apply?

This is a personal decision, and we won’t tell you to abandon family obligations. But the trade-off is worth understanding:

• If your remittances are modest relative to your income, they may have little practical effect, and there’s no need to change anything.
• If they are large relative to your income, reducing or pausing them in the months before you apply can lift your borrowing capacity — because the lender assesses your recent, demonstrable pattern. If you do this, do it genuinely and consistently, not as a one-off.
• Never disguise remittances as something else, and never resume a much higher level immediately after settlement in a way that would strain your repayments. The goal is a sustainable budget, not a number that only works on paper.

We’ll model both scenarios with you — your real numbers, with and without your current remittance level.

How does this fit with the scheme stack?

Remittances affect the loan side (how much you can borrow). The schemes work on the deposit side and, in one case, the loan itself:

For an African buyer whose remittances tighten serviceability, Help to Buy is especially valuable if you’re an eligible citizen — because it shrinks the loan you need to service, it can offset the capacity remittances consume.

One rule governs every scenario: the 5% Scheme reduces your deposit, not your loan. Your income, minus commitments including remittances, sets the borrowing capacity, capped at roughly 6.5x a single income or 6x with dependants.

What about parents and other dependants?

A point that matters for many African families: if you have parents living in your household, they count as dependants in a loan assessment, reducing borrowing capacity — and a parent’s pension is never used to prop up an application. Remittances to parents overseas are treated the same as any other remittance: a committed outgoing. None of this disqualifies you; it shapes the numbers, and we plan around it.

Popular corridors — and the value they offer

Low Deposit Homes builds across Queensland and Victoria, so these are examples of where the value is strong, not the only places you can buy — we match you to the corridor that suits your work, family and budget.

Brisbane and surrounds — for example, the western Ipswich corridor (areas such as Collingwood Park, Redbank Plains and Ripley) and the Logan growth corridor, with new 4/2/2 packages typically $830,000–$1 million. Illustrative $830,000 package: about $45,500 cash in. Other Brisbane growth areas offer comparable pathways.

Melbourne and Victoria — for example, the western, northern and south-eastern growth corridors (and Geelong), with packages frequently $650,000–$850,000. Under $750,000 you unlock the full Victorian stack: on an illustrative ~$745,000 package, about $30,500 net cash in. Similar value exists across Victoria’s other growth corridors.

A worked illustration

A buyer earns $96,000 and sends $500 a month to family back home. A lender factors that $6,000 a year into commitments, trimming borrowing capacity. On its own, a single income makes a full Brisbane package a stretch — so we look at the levers: a sub-$750,000 package in one of Victoria’s more affordable growth corridors (lower price, lower loan), a joint application if a partner works, or — for an Australian citizen under $100,000 — Help to Buy, which shrinks the loan enough that serviceable capacity, even after remittances, comfortably covers it. They keep supporting their family throughout. (Illustrative; your numbers will differ.)

How does Low Deposit Homes help?

Our finance partners (licensed brokers) review your borrowing capacity and you get a full bank approval before you’re placed on any package. We model your real budget with remittances included, and our finance partners match you to a lender and scheme combination that works around them. And we find you the right new-build package — a 4-bed, 2-bath, 2-car home with a multi-purpose room, no upselling.

We build across Queensland and Victoria — from the Ipswich and Logan growth corridors in Brisbane to Melbourne’s western, northern and south-eastern growth corridors and beyond — and match you to the area that fits your life, not the other way around.

Worth knowing early: settlement is not handover — the land title transfers at settlement; the keys come at handover, often months later.

Frequently asked questions

Will sending money to Africa stop me getting a home loan?
No. Remittances reduce your borrowing capacity but do not disqualify you.

Do I have to stop sending money home?
No. If they’re modest, they may barely affect your capacity. If they’re large relative to income, reducing them genuinely before applying can help — but it’s your choice, and it must be sustainable.

Should I just not mention my remittances?
Never. Undeclared regular transfers raise questions. Declared and explained, they’re simply part of your financial picture.

I support parents who live with me — how does that work?
Parents in your household count as dependants, which reduces capacity, and their pensions aren’t used in the application.

Can Help to Buy offset the impact of remittances?
For eligible citizens under the income caps, yes — because it shrinks the loan you need to service.

Do I have to buy in a particular suburb?
No. The corridors mentioned are examples of where we build and where the value is strong — we build across Queensland and Victoria and match you to the area that suits your work, family and budget.

Your next step

Book a free 15-minute consultation and we’ll model your real budget — remittances and all — and show you what’s achievable.

Book your free call → Book your free call | 1800 920 172

Related reading: African & Sub-Saharan First Home Buyer Guide (pillar) · Community Savings Deposit Guide · Bringing Money From Africa for Your Deposit · How Low Deposit Homes Works.

Related guides: Queensland first home buyer guide · Victoria first home buyer guide · Grant Eligibility Calculator · Borrowing Power Calculator

Low Deposit Homes operates under Winning Homes Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 633 321 758). All calculations indicative. Not financial advice.