Home Loans for Doctors: LMI Waivers and Medical Professional Lending

If you’re a doctor, dentist or other recognised medical professional, several Australian lenders will waive lenders mortgage insurance entirely on loans that would normally attract tens of thousands of dollars in premiums.

It’s one of the few genuinely valuable profession-based concessions in Australian lending, and a surprising number of eligible borrowers never find out about it.

What the waiver is worth

Lenders mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you, when you borrow above 80% of a property’s value. You pay the premium, usually capitalised into the loan.

On a $900,000 purchase with a 10% deposit, LMI would commonly run somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 depending on lender and loan size. For an eligible medical professional, that can be zero.

The saving is larger than the premium alone, because a capitalised premium accrues interest over the life of the loan. Avoiding a $25,000 premium on a 30-year loan at 6% saves considerably more than $25,000 in total.

Who qualifies

Eligibility varies between lenders, and this is where a mortgage broker earns their commission. Lender policies differ, so being ineligible under one lender’s policy says nothing about another’s.

Commonly recognised:

• General practitioners and specialists
• Surgeons and anaesthetists
• Dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons
• Optometrists and ophthalmologists
• Veterinarians
• Some lenders include pharmacists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, radiographers and midwives

Registration with AHPRA, or the relevant professional body, is generally required. Some lenders apply a minimum income threshold. Some restrict the waiver to particular loan purposes or property types.

How high can you borrow

Most lenders offering medical waivers allow up to 90% of the property value without LMI. A handful go to 95%, and in limited cases 100% for certain specialists.

That means a $900,000 purchase might need a $90,000 deposit rather than $180,000, bringing forward a purchase by years for someone early in their career. If this is your first purchase, our guide to first home buyer loans covers the other schemes that may apply alongside it.

Be aware the waiver doesn’t change the servicing assessment. You still need to demonstrate you can afford the repayments at the lender’s assessment rate, which sits well above the actual rate. A waiver helps with the deposit hurdle, not the income one, and existing commitments like HECS debt still affect your borrowing power, which matters for a profession that typically finishes study with a substantial balance.

Beyond the LMI waiver

Some lenders extend other concessions to medical professionals:

Interest rate discounts below standard professional package pricing.

Higher borrowing capacity, sometimes through more favourable treatment of overtime, on-call allowances and locum income, which matters, because these can form a substantial part of a doctor’s earnings and are treated inconsistently across the market.

Practice and equipment finance on commercial terms, relevant if you’re buying into or establishing a practice. We handle commercial property loans and equipment finance alongside the home loan where that applies.

Registrar and trainee eligibility at some lenders, before full specialist registration.

The situations that need a broker

You’re a registrar or in training. Income is lower and often contract-based. Some lenders will still apply the waiver; many won’t. Knowing which is the difference between buying now and waiting three years.

Your income includes significant locum or on-call work. Lenders shade variable income differently, some use 100%, some only 80%, and some excluding it entirely without a two-year history.

You’re self-employed through a practice or service entity. Company and trust structures complicate income verification considerably, and lender appetite varies widely.

You’re buying and starting a practice at the same time. The commercial exposure affects the home loan assessment, and business start-up finance needs to be structured with that in mind.

What we’d need from you

• AHPRA registration details
• Recent payslips, or two years of returns if self-employed
• Employment contract, particularly if you’re on a fixed term
• Detail of any locum, on-call or overtime income
• Standard identification and expense information

For Northern Rivers medical professionals

We work with staff across Ballina District Hospital, Byron Central Hospital and the private practices through Ballina, Byron and Lennox Head. We work as mortgage brokers in Ballina, Byron Bay and Lennox Head. If you’re relocating to the region, and a lot of the medical workforce here has, lender treatment of a new employment contract before you’ve started is another area where policy varies significantly.

If you’re a doctor, dentist or vet looking at a purchase, get in touch and we’ll tell you which lenders will waive LMI for your situation and how much you could borrow.

Disclaimer for the foot of the page: This information is general in nature. LMI waiver eligibility, LVR limits and lender policy change regularly and vary between lenders. Speak to us for advice on your circumstances.