Low Doc and Alt Doc Home Loans

We explore the difference between these alternative documentation home loan options.

If you’re self-employed or a small business owner and don’t have the required documents for a standard home loan application, then you may have heard about low doc and alt doc home loans.

What is a Low Doc home loan?

The term low documentation (or Low-Doc) home loan can mean something different depending on the lender you’re dealing with. This term was commonly used before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to refer to a mortgage that required less information than ‘standard’ a home loan to demonstrate ability to repay the loan. After the GFC, the National Consumer Credit Protection legislation was introduced and identified that Low Doc Loans didn’t meet these lending requirements, and ceased being offered to consumers.

What is an Alt Doc Home Loan?

The definition of Alt Doc home loans can again vary lender to lender, but at Pepper Money, we refer to these as loans that accept alternative documentation to what would be considered for a ‘standard’ home loan.

Alt Doc home loans still require supporting documentation and go through our full credit assessment criteria, however the documentation we ask for caters to a wider variety of financial circumstances and complies with today’s lending standards. Alt Doc loans are a solution for Australia’s army of self-employed workers who may not tick the usual loan application boxes or might not have the extensive ABN history and paperwork required by some mainstream lenders

An Alt Doc loan could help:

Self-employed workers

People without full documentation required by mainstream lenders

Small business owners looking to refinance

What do I need for an Alt Doc home loan?

We consider a range of financial documentation for our Alt Doc home loans:

6 months of ABN registration and 6 months of GST registration
Declaration of financial position, and one of the following:
- 6 months business bank statements
- 6 months BAS
- Accountant’s letter

What credit history do I need for an Alt Doc loan?

Our risk-based approach to credit assessment still applies to our Alt Doc home loans. We may be able to help if you have:

Defaults or judgements from 1 credit event within the past 12 months

Mortgage and non-mortgage arrears within the past 6 months

Recently been discharged from bankruptcy

No genuine savings

What you need to know about our Alt Doc loans:

Alt Doc does not mean less thorough. We always complete a comprehensive assessment of each Alt Doc home loan application, carrying out as much due diligence as when we assess Full Doc loans. Each application must satisfy our credit assessment, and, importantly, it must genuinely meet your needs.

Just like any other big financial decision, make sure you do your research and familiarise yourself with the terms, conditions, fees and charges of the Alt Doc home loan product you are considering, to ensure it meets your needs.

Ready to find out where you stand?

Find out how much you could borrow and get a detailed estimate of what your repayments might look like.

It’s quick, easy, and won’t impact your credit score.

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Try our Home Loan Repayment Calculator

See what a Pepper Money home loan might look like for you.

Important Information

This repayment calculator gives you an estimate of what your home loan repayments could be, based on information you have provided in the calculator. The calculator does not take into account loan establishment or application fees, nor government statutory or lender fees. It is to be used as a guide only and does not constitute a quote, pre-qualification, approval for credit or an offer for credit and you should not enter commitments based on it.