Home Loans for Company Directors on the Gold Coast, QLD, The Director's Guide

Running a company gives you control over almost everything, except how a lender reads your income. Directors who pay themselves a combination of salary, dividends and distributions often find that the figure on their tax return looks nothing like the money they actually live on, and that gap is where most home loan applications for company directors run into trouble.

It is not that lenders distrust director income. It is that they assess it differently depending on how your company is structured, how long you have been drawing from it, and whether your accountant has prepared your financials in a way that works for lending. Whether you are a sole director of a small Pty Ltd, a shareholder-director in a family trust structure, or a working director of a larger company on a standard salary, the lending rules that apply to you differ considerably.

The Serres Property Finance team works with business owners and company directors across Gold Coast, QLD, comparing across 70+ lenders to find the ones whose policies fit director income structures rather than the ones that simply do not.

Can company directors get a home loan on the Gold Coast, QLD?

Yes, company directors can get a home loan, and many borrow comfortably above what their tax return alone would suggest. The key is understanding how your income is actually assessed and which lenders on the market are set up to handle director structures rather than treating them as an anomaly.

How do lenders assess company director income?

Your income as a director is rarely one clean number, and lenders know it. What they are trying to do is arrive at a sustainable, repeatable annual figure, and how they get there depends on which income components you draw and how your company is structured.

Salary or wages from the company

If you pay yourself a regular salary through the company's payroll, most lenders treat it the same as PAYG employment income. Two recent payslips and a tax return are usually enough. The complication arises when the salary is low and you supplement it with dividends or distributions, which is common for directors managing their tax position.

Dividends and trust distributions

Dividends from your company and distributions from a related trust are assessed differently. Most lenders want to see two years of personal tax returns showing consistent dividend or distribution income before they will count it. Some lenders exclude it entirely unless you hold a majority shareholding. The averaging approach matters here: lenders typically take the lower of the two-year average or the most recent year's figure, so a strong recent year only helps if the prior year was also reasonable.

Add-backs and company profit

This is where the assessment genuinely differs from salaried lending. Some lenders will add back depreciation, one-off expenses and other non-cash deductions to arrive at a higher net income figure. The lenders that do this well are usually specialist or non-bank lenders, and the add-back policy varies significantly between them. A lender that adds back depreciation but not a one-off equipment write-off gives you a different answer from one that adds both.

What eligibility criteria apply to company directors?

Lender requirements for directors go beyond the standard employment and income checks. Here is what they typically verify before they will assess your full income picture.

What lenders look for:

• › ABN history: most lenders require the business to have been registered for at least two years. Some specialist lenders will consider one year where financials are strong.
• › Company financials: two years of company tax returns and financial statements, prepared by a qualified accountant and lodged with the ATO.
• › Personal tax returns: two years showing the income you have drawn from the company, including salary, dividends and any distributions.
• › BAS statements: the most recent four quarters of Business Activity Statements are commonly required to confirm the business is trading consistently.
• › Shareholding evidence: where dividends are counted, lenders usually want to confirm your percentage shareholding. A majority stake is often required before a lender will include dividend income at all.
• › Accountant's letter: some lenders, particularly for add-back applications, require a letter from your accountant confirming trading position, the nature of any add-backs and that the business is currently profitable.

How much can company directors borrow on the Gold Coast, QLD?

Your borrowing capacity depends on what income figure a lender will assess, and that figure can vary significantly between lenders depending on their add-back policy. The APRA serviceability buffer adds 3 percentage points to your actual rate when lenders test your repayments, which cuts capacity by roughly 15 to 20 percent compared to what your income alone might suggest.

The Gold Coast property market gives context for what that capacity needs to reach. CoreLogic data shows house medians across the approved suburb range running from $932,000 in Labrador through to $2,500,000 in Broadbeach Waters. Unit medians tend to sit well below house prices, with suburbs like Southport at $776,000 and Surfers Paradise at $820,000 offering more accessible entry points. Most house medians in the area sit above $1,000,000, which means for many director buyers the deposit and serviceability conversation matters more than the price cap on government schemes.

The options worth weighing:

• › Full-doc with add-backs: two years of returns · lender adds back depreciation and non-cash items · higher assessed income · competitive mainstream rates
• › Full-doc salary only: two payslips from the company · only your payroll salary counted · simpler assessment · may understate real income
• › Alt-doc or low-doc: accountant's declaration plus BAS in place of full tax returns · useful where one year of returns is available · lower LVR typically applies · specialist lenders only

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

What government schemes can company directors use?

Most government schemes focus on deposit assistance for owner-occupiers, and directors can access them where they meet the standard criteria. Your director status does not disqualify you, but your income structure can affect which schemes are realistically available.

Schemes worth checking:

• › First Home Guarantee: 5% deposit, no LMI, no income test. The Gold Coast cap is $1,000,000, covering most unit medians in the area. First home buyers only.
• › Queensland First Home Owner Grant:$30,000 for a new home under $750,000. Your income structure does not affect eligibility, but the price cap excludes most Gold Coast houses at current medians.
• › Boost to Buy: Queensland shared-equity scheme, up to 30% government equity in a new home, up to 25% in an existing one. Income cap is $150,000 for singles or $225,000 for couples. Verify current availability with the Queensland Revenue Office before relying on it, as allocations are capped and SEQ demand is high.
• › Help to Buy: federal shared-equity scheme, up to 40% equity in a new home and up to 30% in an existing one. Income cap is $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for joint applicants. Many established directors will sit above this threshold, but it is worth checking if you are in an earlier stage of your business.

Directors in a trust structure should note that Help to Buy cannot be combined with a state shared-equity scheme. The Queensland transfer duty concession for first home buyers applies where you meet the residency and citizenship conditions introduced from 1 August 2026.

Source: Housing Australia and Queensland Revenue Office.

How do mortgage brokers improve outcomes for company directors?

The lender choice is where the outcome is decided for directors, not the rate. Three policy differences move the number significantly, and none of them are published side by side in a way you can easily compare.

• › Add-back scope: some lenders add back only depreciation. Others add back depreciation, one-off expenses, interest paid on company facilities and write-offs. The broader the add-back policy, the higher the assessed income and the larger the loan.
• › Retained profits: some lenders will count retained company profits as accessible income where you hold a controlling stake. Others ignore them entirely. Where retained profits are substantial, this single policy difference can move borrowing capacity by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• › Trust distributions: where income flows through a discretionary trust, lenders differ on whether they count the distribution as personal income, whether they need two years of the same trustee, and whether a related-party trust changes the assessment. A lender that handles trust structures well and one that does not give you very different answers on the same application.

Comparing across the right lenders, with the right financials prepared, is what makes the difference between an approval at the figure you need and a lesser one.

When does a standard home loan not suit company directors?

A mainstream lender with a conservative add-back policy is usually the wrong starting point for a director who draws primarily from dividends or trust distributions. If your salary is deliberately kept low for tax purposes and you supplement it through the company, a lender that counts only your payroll income will assess you at a fraction of your actual capacity.

It also does not suit directors in the early stages of a business. Lenders generally want two years of profitable trading before they will count business income fully. If you have only been operating for one year, or if one of the two years was a loss year, your options narrow to specialist and non-bank lenders willing to assess a shorter history or an accountant's declaration in place of a full two-year set. That is a workable path, but it comes with a different rate and typically a lower LVR than a standard full-doc loan.

What approval challenges do company directors face?

Directors face a specific set of lending hurdles that rarely apply to salaried borrowers. Knowing them in advance means you can prepare the right documents and approach the right lenders from the start.

Where director applications lose ground:

• › Low declared income: directors who minimise their salary for tax efficiency often find their declared personal income is too low for a lender's serviceability calculation, even though company cash flow tells a different story. Solving this requires either a lender that counts add-backs or retained profits, or restructuring how you draw income ahead of the application.
• › Company liabilities counted twice: some lenders count company loans and credit facilities as personal liabilities when assessing your DTI, even where you have no personal guarantee. Under the APRA DTI framework, lenders may write no more than 20% of new lending at six times gross income or above, and a director whose company debt shows on their assessment can breach that threshold unexpectedly.
• › Inconsistent financials across years: a one-off strong year followed by a quieter one produces an average that underrepresents your current capacity. Applying to a lender that takes the most recent year rather than the average, where your trajectory is upward, is the more accurate picture and gives you the better number.
• › Intercompany loans and related-party transactions: where money moves between related entities, lenders sometimes treat those flows as liabilities rather than income, or exclude them from the income calculation entirely. The way your accountant presents these transactions in your financials can make a meaningful difference to how a lender reads them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can company directors use the First Home Guarantee with dividend income?

Yes, there is no income test on the First Home Guarantee since October 2025. You will need to be a first home buyer and stay within the $1,000,000 Gold Coast price cap, but how you draw your income does not affect eligibility.

Do lenders count retained company profits as income?

Some do, where you hold a controlling stake and the profits are demonstrably accessible. Many mainstream lenders do not. This is one of the clearest reasons lender selection changes the outcome for directors.

Is a full-doc or low-doc loan better for a company director?

Full-doc with add-backs is usually better if two years of profitable financials are available, because the rate and LVR conditions are more competitive. Low-doc suits directors with less than two years of trading or a structurally complex income picture.

Does my company's debt affect my personal borrowing capacity?

It depends on the lender and whether you have given a personal guarantee. Some lenders count company credit facilities as personal commitments in the DTI calculation, which can reduce assessed capacity even where repayments are made by the company.

How long does a company director need to be trading before they can get a home loan?

Most lenders require two years of registered ABN history with profitable company financials. Some specialist lenders will assess one year where an accountant's letter confirms a strong trading position.

Should a company director use a mortgage broker or go directly to a bank?

A mortgage broker, every time. A bank assesses you on its own policy for director income, which may not accommodate your add-backs, dividend income or trust distributions. A broker compares across lenders whose policies differ on exactly these points and finds the one that gives you the most accurate and favourable assessment.

Your Next Steps

Getting your home loan right as a company director is genuinely a lender-selection exercise. The income is there in most cases. What changes the outcome is which lender you approach, how your financials are presented, and whether you have matched your income structure to a lender policy that handles it properly.

Ready to find out which lenders will work best for your director income structure? Contact the Serres Property Finance team or call 1800 040 030. We'll canvas our 70+ lender panel and find the most suitable options for your circumstances.

About the author Lee Tsiboukas Senior Mortgage Broker, Serres Property Finance Lee Tsiboukas is the senior mortgage broker behind Serres Property Finance and has spent more than fifteen years running a private property investment trust across a diverse portfolio. He started Serres after seeing how much harder lending had become for complex borrowers - the self-employed, investors and first home buyers - once the GFC and the Banking Royal Commission tightened the banks' doors. His own family are long-term property owners and investors, so he understands the position clients are in whether they are buying a first home, building toward retirement or funding a development. Meet Lee → LinkedIn

Serres Property Finance · Gold Coast, QLD · Serres Finance Pty Ltd (ABN 34 668 150 758), authorised under Australian Credit Licence 486112 · General information only - this article does not constitute financial advice. Please consider your own circumstances and seek professional advice before making any financial decisions.