Lender review
Is Granite Home Loans a good home loan lender?
The short answer
A broker-only non-bank built around niches: lender-paid mortgage insurance for professionals and essential workers, easy refinancing with no serviceability buffer, expat, non-resident and self-managed super loans, and a 40-year option. The limits are a clear credit history on every product and tightening location caps outside the main centres.
How we rate them
Our assessment, not a lender claim. Five dimensions, scored out of five, revisited when the policy-checked date changes. Rate & fees is judged on the pricing borrowers actually transact at, not the advertised rate card.
- Rate & fees competitiveness
- 3.5/5
- Approval speed
- 3.5/5
- Technology & apps
- 3.5/5
- Product & policy flexibility
- 3.5/5
- Service
- 3/5
Granite charges no application or settlement fee and waives the valuation fee on residential loans that settle. Borrowers above 80 per cent pay a lenders protection fee in place of mortgage insurance, except on the lender-paid products. From 12 October 2026 company and trust loans carry a pricing loading, and a new annual facility fee applies.
Can I get a loan with them?
Probably, if your credit file is clean and you fit one of its niches. Granite lends to Australian citizens and permanent residents, plus expats and non-residents on separate products, and every product on its books asks for a clear credit history.
Granite works through brokers only, and every application carries a digital identity check. Its standard loans go to 95 per cent of the property value, with mortgage insurance above 80 per cent. Professionals and essential workers can borrow with the lender paying the insurance and with little or no genuine savings. Easy Refinance moves a loan across without a full assessment, if the new loan is cheaper and the account has run cleanly for at least 12 months. The firm lines: no product reads defaults or bankruptcy, boarding houses, student accommodation and farms are out, and regional and non-metro locations face lower borrowing caps, which tighten further from 12 October 2026 as suburb population decides the limit.
What they will and will not do
Facts from the lender's current policy, not judgements.
- Yes: Lender-paid mortgage insurance (professionals and essential workers)
- Yes: Easy Refinance without full assessment
- Yes: Construction loans
- Yes: SMSF lending (refinance and commercial)
- Yes: Expat and non-resident borrowers
- Yes: Terms up to 40 years
- Yes: Offset account
- Yes: Interest only (up to 5 years)
- Yes: Specialist Disability Accommodation (NDIS) loans
- Yes: Sharia-compliant loans
- No: Borrowers with defaults or arrears
- No: New residential purchases by self-managed super
Pros and cons
What works
- Lender-paid mortgage insurance for professionals and essential workers, with little or no genuine savings required.
- Easy Refinance skips the full assessment and the serviceability buffer when the new loan is cheaper and the account has run cleanly for 12 months.
- A genuine niche range: expat, non-resident, self-managed super, Sharia-compliant, NDIS accommodation and a build-now-pay-later construction option.
- A 40-year term is available from 6 October 2026, with serviceability assessed over a shorter period.
- No application or settlement fee, and the valuation fee is waived on residential loans that settle.
- Digital identity checks and an online property checker give an early view of whether a property is acceptable.
What doesn't
- Every product on its books needs a clear credit history, and there is no tier for defaults, arrears or discharged bankrupts.
- From 12 October 2026 borrowing against regional and non-metro suburbs is capped lower, with the limit set by suburb population.
- Companies and trusts face an 80 per cent cap from 12 October 2026 and a new pricing loading.
- Boarding houses, co-living, student accommodation and farms are not accepted as security.
- New residential purchases by self-managed super funds stopped with the law change of 10 August 2026.
- Lender-paid mortgage insurance is limited to listed occupations and approved locations.
What are they distinctly good at?
The clean-credit borrower in a niche that mainstream lenders handle awkwardly: a doctor or nurse without a big deposit, an expat investing at home, a super fund refinancing business property, or a borrower stuck with an old lender. Granite builds a product for each, and the common thread is a clear credit file.
Professional and essential-worker loans have the lender pay the mortgage insurance, which removes the biggest cost of a small deposit. Easy Refinance is aimed at borrowers who are stuck with their current lender: the new loan must be cheaper, the old one must have run well for at least 12 months, and no buffer is applied. The self-managed super range continues for refinancing and business property, with an offset sub-account and no ongoing net asset test. Expats and non-residents can borrow on foreign income, and HomePay lets a borrower build with interest capitalised during construction.
Who it suits, and who it does not
A good fit if
- Doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, IT professionals and essential workers with a small deposit.
- Clean-credit borrowers stuck with an old lender who want a straightforward refinance.
- Expats and non-residents on foreign income.
- Self-managed super funds refinancing or buying business property.
Look elsewhere if
- Anyone with defaults, arrears or a past bankruptcy.
- Buyers of boarding houses, student accommodation or farms.
- Company and trust borrowers wanting more than 80 per cent from October.
- Buyers in small regional suburbs who need a high loan-to-value ratio.
Our verdict
A specialist for the tidy file with an unusual need. Granite has built a loan for the professional with a small deposit, the borrower stuck with an old lender, the expat and the super fund, and it assesses them quickly and digitally. The trade-off is a firm credit line and shifting policy: regional caps, company and trust limits and fee changes all arrive in October 2026. For the right borrower, it solves a real problem. For a file with any blemish, the answer is elsewhere.
We can arrange loans with this lender.
Comparable lenders
Lenders that solve a similar problem, and that we can arrange.
Lender assessments are our own opinion, based on the policy and product terms in force on the policy-checked date shown above, and are not a recommendation.
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