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

If you send money home to family in South Africa, here is 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 the amount you can borrow, but it is a normal, manageable part of an application, not a red flag. With the federal 5% Deposit Scheme (5% deposit, zero LMI), the state scheme stack, and — for the 76% of South Africans who hold citizenship — possibly Help to Buy, a South 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. The key is planning around your remittances honestly rather than hiding them. Here is how it works.

How do lenders actually treat remittances?

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

What lenders care about is consistency and honesty. Money moving out of 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 it helps to understand the trade-off:

• If your remittances are modest relative to your income, they may have little practical effect on your borrowing capacity, and there is 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 choose to do this, do it genuinely and consistently, not as a one-off for the application.
• 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 — so you can make an informed choice.

How does this fit with the South African scheme advantage?

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 a South African who supports family and whose remittances tighten serviceability, Help to Buy is especially valuable — because it shrinks the loan you need to service, it can offset the capacity that remittances consume. That option is open to citizens (and 76% of South African-born residents are), under the income caps.

One rule governs every scenario: the 5% Scheme reduces your deposit, not your loan. Your income, minus commitments including remittances, sets the borrowing capacity, and no responsible application stretches the loan past roughly 6.5 times a single income, or 6 times where you support dependants.

What about parents and other dependants?

A related point that matters for many South African families: if you have parents living in your household, they count as dependants in a loan assessment, which reduces borrowing capacity — and a parent’s pension is never used to prop up an application. Remittances to parents overseas are treated the same way as any other remittance: a committed outgoing. None of this disqualifies you; it simply 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 $880,000 package: about $48,000 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 $720,000 package, about $30,000 net cash in. Similar value exists across Victoria’s other growth corridors.

A worked illustration

Sipho earns $95,000 and sends $600 a month to his mother in South Africa. A lender factors that $7,200 a year into his commitments, trimming his borrowing capacity. On its own, his 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 his partner works, or — because Sipho is an Australian citizen earning under $100,000 — Help to Buy, which shrinks the loan enough that his serviceable capacity, even after remittances, comfortably covers it. He keeps supporting his mother throughout. (Illustrative; your numbers will differ.)

How does Low Deposit Homes help?

We get you a full bank approval before you are placed on any package — our finance partners (licensed brokers) review your borrowing capacity, model your real budget with remittances included, and 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, the best layout for your family within budget, with 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. Settlement is when the land title transfers; handover is when you collect the keys, often months later.

Frequently asked questions

Will sending money to South Africa stop me getting a home loan?
No. Remittances reduce your borrowing capacity but do not disqualify you. They are treated as a committed outgoing.

Do I have to stop sending money home?
No. If remittances are modest, they may barely affect your capacity. If they are 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 are simply part of your financial picture.

I support my 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. We build this into the plan.

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, it can offset the capacity remittances consume.

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: South African First Home Buyer Guide (pillar) · First Home Buyer Schemes by Visa for South Africans · How a Stokvel Can Fund 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.