Home Loans for Sole Traders in East Brisbane, QLD, What Lenders Actually Check

Running your own business and buying a home are two of the biggest financial moves you can make, and doing both at once is harder than it needs to be, mostly because the lenders you walk into first are set up for payslips. If your income comes from invoices, tax returns and a business bank account rather than a regular wage, you're not a problem borrower. You're just a borrower who needs the right lender.

Whether you've been running your ABN for two years or ten, whether you're a freelancer, a consultant, a tradie on tools, or a sole operator in professional services, the lending assessment works differently for you than it does for a PAYG employee. The key difference is that lenders build your income from your tax returns, and what they include or exclude from that calculation varies significantly between lenders.

The team at AE Finance Solutions works with sole traders across East Brisbane, QLD on exactly this, comparing options across 60+ lenders. The self-employed home loan side of lending is where lender choice changes the outcome more than almost any other borrower type.

Can sole traders get a home loan in East Brisbane?

Yes, sole traders can qualify for a standard home loan in East Brisbane, QLD. The approval is not materially harder than it is for an employed borrower, but it requires a different set of documents and a lender whose policy is built to read self-employed income fairly. Most lenders want two years of personal tax returns and two years of notice of assessments. What they do with that information varies enough between lenders to move the assessed income by tens of thousands of dollars.

How do lenders assess sole trader income?

Your taxable income is the starting point, but it's rarely where lenders finish. Because sole traders minimise their tax liability through legitimate deductions, the figure on the notice of assessment often understates what the business actually earns. Lenders who understand this use a process called add-backs to reconstruct a more accurate income figure.

What add-backs typically look like

An add-back is an expense that was deducted from your taxable income but doesn't actually leave your pocket as cash. The most common ones are depreciation on equipment or vehicles, and one-off or non-recurring business expenses that inflated the cost base in a particular year. Some lenders add these back to your net profit before assessing serviceability; others don't. That single policy difference can move your assessed income by $15,000 to $30,000 on a typical sole trader return.

How the two-year average is applied

Most lenders take the lower of the two years' net profit, or an average of the two, and assess serviceability from that figure. Where your income has grown year-on-year, the lower-of approach is punishing. A lender who averages the two years instead is a meaningfully better outcome. A small number of lenders will consider a one-year assessment where income is demonstrably growing and the business has been running for at least two years.

Source: APRA.

What do sole traders need to qualify for a home loan?

Lenders verify three things for a sole trader application: that your business is real and has been running for the required period, that your income is assessable and consistent, and that your personal financial position supports the loan. The documents that evidence these are different from a payslip, but they're no harder to gather if you know what's needed.

What most lenders will ask for:

• › ABN registration: current and active, typically for a minimum of two years before the application date.
• › Personal tax returns: two years, lodged and accepted by the ATO, matching the income you're declaring.
• › Notices of assessment: one for each tax return year, confirming the ATO's assessment of the same income.
• › Business bank statements: typically the most recent 90 to 180 days, showing consistent business activity and deposits.
• › BAS statements: most recent four quarters, which let the lender cross-check declared income against GST turnover.
• › Accountant's letter: required by some lenders, confirming the business is ongoing and trading profitably.

How much can sole traders borrow in East Brisbane, QLD?

Your borrowing capacity as a sole trader in East Brisbane is driven by the same serviceability mechanics as any other borrower: the lender adds a 3.0% buffer on top of the actual rate, assesses your expenses against benchmarks, and factors in any existing debts. What changes is the income figure that feeds those mechanics, and that's determined by how the lender reads your returns.

Most East Brisbane suburbs sit above the $1,000,000 FHBG price cap at the house level, with house medians ranging from $1,317,500 in Salisbury to over $2,300,000 in Bulimba. CoreLogic data shows unit medians range from $785,000 in Woolloongabba to $961,250 in Carina Heights, which puts first home stock within the cap in several suburbs. Whether you can access that stock depends on what income your lender will actually count.

The APRA debt-to-income cap, effective since February 2026, also shapes things for higher-income sole traders: lenders can write no more than 20% of new lending above a DTI of 6x gross income. This cap is tracked per lender and resets quarterly, so timing and lender selection both matter for sole traders borrowing at higher multiples.

Source: CoreLogic (via YIP, mid-2026) and APRA.

Get in touch Need help with a home loan as a sole trader? We're a local team who understand how lenders actually assess your situation, not just your rate. We'll compare your options across 60+ lenders to find the right fit. Chat to Our Team Call 0422 868 524

What government schemes can sole traders use?

Sole traders who are buying their first home have access to the same federal schemes as any other first home buyer. Eligibility runs on property price and buyer status, not employment type, so your ABN income does not exclude you.

The schemes worth knowing about:

• › First Home Guarantee: 5% deposit, no LMI, no income test. The price cap for every approved suburb in East Brisbane is $1,000,000, which covers most of the unit market across the area.
• › Family Home Guarantee: single parents or guardians, 2% deposit, no LMI. You don't need to be a first home buyer. The same $1,000,000 cap applies across all approved suburbs.
• › Queensland First Home Owner Grant:$30,000 for a new home (never previously occupied or sold as a residence) valued under $750,000. Not means-tested. You must move in within 12 months and live there for a continuous six months.
• › Help to Buy: the federal shared-equity pathway, up to 30% government equity on an existing home or 40% on a new one. Income cap is $103,000 for a single applicant and $165,000 for joint applicants for 2026-27. The $1,000,000 price cap applies in East Brisbane.
• › Boost to Buy (Queensland): South East Queensland allocations are currently exhausted. Federal Help to Buy is the live shared-equity pathway for buyers in this area.

Source: Housing Australia and Queensland Revenue Office.

How do mortgage brokers help sole traders get approved in East Brisbane, QLD?

The lender choice decides the outcome for sole traders more than for almost any other borrower type. Three policy differences move the income assessment significantly, and they're not published side by side anywhere.

• › Add-back policy: some lenders add depreciation and one-off expenses back to net profit before assessing serviceability; others take taxable income as declared.
• › Income averaging vs lower-of: lenders who average the two tax years treat a growing income more fairly than lenders who take the lower year.
• › One-year assessment: a small number of lenders will assess on a single year of returns where the business is established and income is demonstrably growing, which benefits recently incorporated sole traders whose earlier year was lower.

Comparing across the panel for these three variables, rather than applying to the first lender you think of, is where most of the work happens. Whether these options are available to you depends on which lenders your broker has access to and on your specific circumstances, which is worth a conversation before you apply.

When does a standard loan not make sense for sole traders?

A full-doc loan, assessed on two years of tax returns, is the right structure for most sole traders in East Brisbane. But there are situations where it either won't work or where waiting is the better move.

If your ABN is under two years old, most lenders won't assess your income at all under a full-doc policy. You may still be able to borrow, but the lender pool narrows significantly and the conditions change. Similarly, if your taxable income has been deliberately low because you've been reinvesting heavily in the business, the net profit figure on the return may not reflect what the business can actually service. Fixing the income picture over one more tax year is often worth more than pushing an application through at a lower assessed income and a more restricted lender.

If you've just changed the structure of your business or moved from a company to a sole trader arrangement, lenders treat the ABN clock as restarting. That's worth knowing before you apply, because a declined application sits on your credit file for five years regardless of the reason.

For most established sole traders with two years of clean returns and growing income, the wait-or-apply decision resolves clearly once you can see what each lender will actually assess. That's where a broker conversation makes the difference before you commit to anything.

What approval challenges do sole traders face?

The hurdles that come up most often:

• › Tax minimisation vs assessed income: the more aggressively you've reduced taxable income, the lower the figure a lender reads. This is the core tension, and there's no fix other than lender selection and add-backs.
• › Unlodged tax returns: a return that isn't yet lodged with the ATO can't be used as income evidence, even if the accountant has prepared it. Timing the application around lodgement matters.
• › ATO debt or payment plans: an existing ATO payment arrangement appears on bank statements and is treated as an ongoing commitment by most lenders, which reduces assessed serviceability.
• › ABN under two years: full-doc policies require two years of ABN history. A newer ABN narrows the lender pool and often changes the deposit requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can sole traders get a home loan with one year of tax returns?

Some lenders will assess on a single year where the business is established and income is growing. It's a narrower panel, and the conditions are more specific, so it's worth getting advice before applying.

Do sole traders need a bigger deposit than employed borrowers?

Not necessarily. Full-doc sole trader applications with two years of returns are assessed under the same deposit requirements as a standard loan. A deposit under 20% still triggers LMI unless a scheme applies.

Does my taxable income have to be high enough to service the loan?

Yes, but add-backs can increase the assessed income above what's on your return. Depreciation and one-off expenses are the most common items added back, and they can move the number meaningfully.

Can I use the First Home Guarantee as a sole trader?

Yes. Eligibility is based on being a first home buyer and the property price, not your employment type. The $1,000,000 cap applies across all East Brisbane suburbs, which covers most unit purchases in the area.

How does an ATO payment plan affect my application?

Most lenders treat an ATO payment plan as an ongoing liability, which reduces your assessed serviceability. Clearing it before applying is usually the cleaner outcome.

Is a mortgage broker better than going direct to a bank as a sole trader?

A mortgage broker, every time. Sole trader income assessment varies more between lenders than almost any other loan type, and a broker can identify which lenders use add-backs, which average income, and which will accept one year of returns before you apply anywhere.

Your Next Steps

Getting your sole trader home loan right is about finding the lender whose policy gives your income the fairest reading, not just the one you already bank with. The add-back methodology, the averaging approach and the ABN history requirement all differ between lenders in ways that change what you can borrow by more than most people expect.

Ready to find out which lenders will work best for your sole trader application? Contact the AE Finance Solutions team or call 0422 868 524. We'll canvas our 60+ lender panel and find the most suitable options for your circumstances.

About the author Abel Desta Director & Mortgage Broker, AE Finance Solutions Abel Desta is the Director and Mortgage Broker at AE Finance Solutions, an East Brisbane brokerage. Specialising in home finance, he helps first home buyers, upgraders and investors across the East Brisbane region. Abel is a credit representative (467836) of LMG Broker Services Pty Ltd (ACN 632 405 504), Australian Credit Licence 517192, and compares loans across a panel of 60+ lenders at no cost to the borrower. Meet Abel → LinkedIn

AE Finance Solutions, QLD, Australia. This is general information only - this article does not constitute financial advice. Please consider your own circumstances and seek professional advice before making any financial decisions.