LMI waivers for medical professionals

What LMI costs, and what a waiver removes

LMI is a one-off premium most lenders charge when you borrow more than 80% of a property's value. It protects the lender if you can't repay and the property sells for less than the loan.

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The premium climbs steeply with the share of the price you borrow, and with the size of the loan. Indicative premiums on a $900,000 purchase:

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• Deposit $135,000 (15%). Loan: $765,000. Share borrowed (LVR): 85%. Indicative LMI premium: approx $10,800.

• Deposit $90,000 (10%). Loan: $810,000. Share borrowed (LVR): 90%. Indicative LMI premium: approx $20,400.

• Deposit $45,000 (5%). Loan: $855,000. Share borrowed (LVR): 95%. Indicative LMI premium: approx $39,400.

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Most states also charge stamp duty on the premium itself, which adds to these figures.

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Source: indicative full-documentation premiums from a published lender premium table (May 2026), for a home you live in, before stamp duty on the premium. Premiums vary between insurers and lenders; these are not a quote.

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The premium also differs between lenders for the same loan. In October 2026, Xaviera's quotes for a $902,500 loan, 95% of a $950,000 purchase, ran from about $34,800 to about $39,900 across eleven lenders: a gap of about $5,000 for the same borrower and the same property.

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And with most banks, 95% is the limit including the LMI. If you borrow 95% of the value and add the premium to the loan, you are over the limit, so the premium has to come from your savings. Only a few lenders will lend 95% plus LMI.

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A medico LMI waiver means the lender doesn't charge that premium to an eligible borrower, even though you are borrowing more than 80%. Lenders offer it because they want medical professionals as customers: incomes are high, they rise through a career, and the work is in steady demand. A waiver is the lender's own decision, not an insurance product, so each lender sets its own rules on who qualifies and how far it goes.

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Who qualifies for a medico LMI waiver

Lenders sort eligibility by profession first, then by registration, then by income. For doctors, Xaviera's short version is this: medico lenders (lenders with their own policies for medical professionals) want current AHPRA registration and want you to be working in your field. Whether you are salaried, a sole trader or a locum doesn't matter for the waiver itself.

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Doctors and dentists

Doctors at every stage, from intern to specialist, and dentists get the widest choice of waiver lenders and the highest limits. For these professions there is generally no minimum income and no minimum time in the role, because the lender is relying on the profession rather than this year's pay. That matters for an intern or junior doctor whose salary is still modest.

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Registration: general, specialist, provisional and limited

Registration type is where lenders differ most. General and specialist registration are accepted everywhere. Provisional registration, which interns hold, and limited registration are the dividing line: some lenders exclude both, while others accept provisional registration. Just under half of medico lenders take interns, so lender choice matters.

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Being on parental leave doesn't affect your eligibility for a waiver. Lenders search the AHPRA register themselves, so you don't need to supply your registration details, but it is worth checking your registration type and renewal date before you apply. Our page on who qualifies for a doctor home loan covers registration and employment in more detail.

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Vets, nurses, midwives and allied health

Outside medicine and dentistry, waivers are narrower. The usual differences:

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• A lower limit. Usually 90% of the property's value rather than 95%.

• Sometimes an income test. Some lenders set a minimum income from the profession, commonly about $90,000 to $100,000 a year; plenty set none.

• A shorter list of lenders. Some include physiotherapists, optometrists, pharmacists, psychologists, chiropractors, podiatrists, radiographers and speech pathologists. Others include only a few of these.

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Veterinarians are included by a growing number of lenders, and selected medico lenders go to 95% for them. Registered nurses and midwives can get a waiver with a handful of lenders, usually at 90% and sometimes with an income test. Dentists sit alongside doctors, with the same broad access.

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International medical graduates on a temporary visa

Xaviera regularly sees medical professionals on temporary visas, and this is where waivers vary most. A temporary resident's purchase needs Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval. Most lenders will only lend up to 80% of the property's value when FIRB approval is required. However, some medico lenders will lend up to 95%. Two other rules apply. The Government's 5% Deposit Scheme is open only to Australian citizens and permanent residents. And from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign persons, including temporary residents, are generally banned from buying established homes, with limited exceptions. New homes and land to build on generally remain open, with FIRB approval.

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Source: Foreign Investment Review Board, Residential land; firsthomebuyers.gov.au. Read 9 October 2026.

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Lenders that offer medico LMI waivers

These lenders offer LMI waivers to eligible medical professionals, as at October 2026:

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• ANZ

• Bankwest

• Commonwealth Bank

• Granite Home Loans

• NAB

• People First Bank

• St.George

• Suncorp Bank

• Westpac

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Each sets its own rules on which professions qualify, how far the waiver goes and what limits apply, and those rules change. Being on the list doesn't make a lender the right one for you: the waiver is one part of the loan, and how the lender reads your income and prices the loan matter as much.

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How far a waiver goes

90% or 95% of the property's value

For doctors and dentists, many waivers go to 95%, so you can buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI. Others stop at 90%. Investment loans mostly stop at 90%, and a waiver on an investment loan is for principal and interest repayments only. Interest-only loans on a home you live in usually have a lower limit too.

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Lending above 95% is possible in one situation: some lenders will lend 100% of the purchase price of a home you live in if you are self-employed and a business or commercial loan is being arranged at the same time.

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Loan and property limits

Most waivers carry a cap, set on the loan, on the property's value or on your total borrowing with that lender. Some lenders cap a waiver at about $2 million; others go much higher. They rarely matter for a first home, but they can for a specialist buying a family home in Sydney or adding an investment property.

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The valuation, not the contract price

The percentage is measured against the lower of the price you pay and the lender's valuation. If the valuation comes in under the price, your loan-to-value ratio (LVR) rises, and a purchase planned at 95% can end up just over the limit. That matters more in a falling market: Brisbane values fell 1.5% in September 2026 and Sydney values 1.4%. A short valuation leaves two choices: put in more deposit or renegotiate the price.

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Source: Cotality Home Value Index, October 2026 release, results at 30 September 2026.

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Buying with a partner who isn't a medical professional

The waiver follows the eligible professional, so they need to be a borrower on the loan. As long as they are, a partner who isn't a medical professional can be on the loan with them and the waiver still applies.

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A medico waiver or the 5% Deposit Scheme?

Since 1 October 2025 the Australian Government's 5% Deposit Scheme has had no income limit and no cap on places, so a doctor buying a first home can choose between it and a lender's waiver. Both let you buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI. They differ in four ways:

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• Who can use it. 5% Deposit Scheme: First home buyers, or anyone who hasn't owned property in Australia in the last 10 years; citizens and permanent residents only. Medico LMI waiver: Eligible professionals, whether or not it is your first home.

• Price limit. 5% Deposit Scheme: Capped by location: $1.5 million in Sydney and $1 million in Brisbane, lower in most other areas. Medico LMI waiver: No price cap as such; the lender's loan and property limits apply.

• Investment. 5% Deposit Scheme: Not allowed: you must move in within six months and keep living there. Medico LMI waiver: Allowed by some lenders, usually with a lower limit.

• Interest pricing. 5% Deposit Scheme: Most lenders price it as a 95% loan. Medico LMI waiver: Usually priced as a loan below 80% of the value.

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The last row is why Xaviera uses the medico waiver every time a client qualifies for one. Most lenders price a 5% Deposit Scheme loan as a 95% loan (a very few price it as a loan below 80%), while a waived medico loan usually gets the pricing the lender gives loans below 80% of the property's value. The scheme is still a good option for a first home buyer whose profession doesn't qualify for a waiver, or whose waiver stops at 90%.

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Pricing differences look small and add up. Every 0.10% a year of interest on an $855,000 loan is about $855 in the first year, and the gap lasts as long as the pricing does.

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Source: firsthomebuyers.gov.au (Housing Australia), 5% Deposit Scheme fact sheet and FAQs, read 6 October 2026.

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From Xaviera's files

A doctor came to us recently wanting to buy her first home, and asked about the 5% Deposit Scheme. In the area she wanted, the scheme's price cap was $700,000, well below the entry price for homes there. Using a medico LMI waiver instead removed the price cap, so she could still buy her first home with a 5% deposit and no LMI.

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What a waiver doesn't change

A waiver removes one cost. Everything else about the application works as usual.

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How much you can borrow

The lender still assesses your income, debts and living expenses. Waiver lenders differ in how they read overtime, allowances, salary packaging and ABN income, and that can move your borrowing figure by tens of thousands of dollars. Our guide to home loans for doctors explains why two lenders give the same doctor different borrowing figures.

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Your deposit and the cash to settle

You still need the deposit itself, plus transfer duty and legal and lender fees. At 90% or 95%, some lenders want part of the deposit to be genuine savings, built up over time, and others don't. Transfer duty depends on the state, the price and whether it is your first home; you can work it out for any state in the Xandii stamp duty calculator.

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Policies change

Lenders change waiver rules more often than most policies. In 2020 several tightened them, lowering limits or dropping professions; since 2025 some have widened them again, adding professions and registration types. When a lender changes its policy, it decides whether to honour pre-approvals and applications already in progress, and that varies with the lender and the change. Either way, keep your circumstances steady until settlement: lenders expect your income at settlement to match what they approved.

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Investment properties and refinancing

Buying an investment property

Some waivers apply only to a home you live in. Others cover investment purchases, mostly up to 90% of the value and a few up to 95%, on principal and interest repayments only. If you do pay LMI on an investment loan, the ATO treats it as a borrowing expense: you claim it over five years, or over the loan term if that is shorter.

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Source: ATO, Borrowing expenses (residential rental properties), last updated 22 May 2026.

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Refinancing an existing loan

A waiver also applies when you refinance. That helps a doctor whose loan is still above 80% of the property's value: one who bought before registration, through a lender without a medico policy, or whose property has fallen in value. You can move the loan to a waiver lender without paying LMI, and cash out is generally permitted when refinancing.

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LMI you have already paid is rarely refunded. Our page on refinancing without LMI covers moving an existing loan.

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Worked example: one registrar, six ways to buy the same home

This is an illustration, not a quote. Say Dr Rossi is a third-year anaesthetics registrar earning about $160,000 a year including overtime, with $100,000 saved. She wants to buy her first home, a $900,000 townhouse in a capital city where the 5% Deposit Scheme cap is at least that much, such as Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra. Transfer duty is the same whichever way she borrows, so it is left out.

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• 1. 20% deposit. Deposit: $180,000. Loan: $720,000. LMI (indicative): None. How the loan is usually priced: Below 80%.

• 2. 10% deposit, standard loan. Deposit: $90,000. Loan: $810,000. LMI (indicative): About $20,400. How the loan is usually priced: As a 90% loan.

• 3. 10% deposit, medico waiver. Deposit: $90,000. Loan: $810,000. LMI (indicative): None. How the loan is usually priced: Below 80%.

• 4. 5% deposit, standard loan. Deposit: $45,000. Loan: $855,000. LMI (indicative): About $39,400. How the loan is usually priced: As a 95% loan.

• 5. 5% Deposit Scheme. Deposit: $45,000. Loan: $855,000. LMI (indicative): None. How the loan is usually priced: As a 95% loan.

• 6. 5% deposit, medico waiver to 95%. Deposit: $45,000. Loan: $855,000. LMI (indicative): None. How the loan is usually priced: Below 80%.

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What the table shows:

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• Row 1 is out of reach for now. She has $100,000, not $180,000 plus duty.

• Rows 2 and 4 are what a lender without a medico policy would offer. The LMI alone is about $20,400 or $39,400, before stamp duty on the premium.

• Row 4 may not work at all. Most banks cap the loan at 95% including LMI, so the $39,400 would have to come from her savings, leaving her less than $16,000 for duty and costs. Only a few lenders will lend 95% plus LMI.

• Rows 3 and 6 are where Xaviera would start. Row 6 leaves $55,000 of her savings for duty and costs, against a loan $45,000 larger. Row 3 uses $90,000 of her $100,000, which at this price leaves too little for transfer duty in most states, so row 6 is the likelier fit unless she saves more.

• Row 5 matches row 6 on cash, but most lenders price the loan as a 95% loan.

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Change the price to $1,200,000 and the picture moves. The 5% Deposit Scheme is out everywhere except Sydney and the NSW regional centres. A 95% waiver loan would be $1,140,000 with a $60,000 deposit, if her borrowing power stretches that far. A 90% loan needs a $120,000 deposit before duty, more than she has.

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You can see indicative borrowing figures across a range of lenders for your own details with the Xandii home loan comparison tool, then talk the result through with Xaviera.

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Five ways to make the most of a medico waiver

1. Check your registration type first. Provisional and limited registration narrow the list of lenders.

2. Ask about pricing, not only LMI. The waiver saves a one-off premium; the interest pricing lasts for years.

3. Keep your pay steady until settlement. Lenders expect your income at settlement to match what they approved.

4. Put the eligible professional on the loan. A partner who isn't eligible can be on the loan too.

5. Think about the next purchase, or what you plan to do with this property long term. Loan caps apply to all your borrowing with a lender, so the lender that suits a first home may not suit an investment property later.

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Frequently asked questions

Do all doctors qualify for an LMI waiver?

Doctors with current AHPRA registration who are working in medicine qualify with most medico lenders. Registration type matters: provisional and limited registration narrow the list. Normal lending criteria still apply to your income, expenses, credit history, the property and the loan purpose.

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Can I get an LMI waiver as an intern?

Yes, with some lenders. Interns hold provisional registration, which just under half of medico lenders accept for a waiver. Waivers for doctors generally have no minimum income, so an intern's salary doesn't rule you out, but the lender still has to be satisfied you can afford the loan.

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Can I get an LMI waiver as a locum?

Yes. Lenders look for current AHPRA registration and that you are working in medicine, and locum work counts. The lender still has to accept your locum income under its own policy, which is where the choice of lender matters.

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Is an LMI waiver better than the 5% Deposit Scheme?

For a doctor who qualifies, usually. Both remove LMI with a 5% deposit, but most lenders price a 5% Deposit Scheme loan as a 95% loan, while a medico waiver usually gets the pricing for loans below 80%. A waiver also works for buyers who aren't first home buyers, above the scheme's price caps, and with some lenders for investment.

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Can I get an LMI waiver on an investment property?

With some lenders. Others waive LMI only on a home you live in. Where investment is allowed, the limit is mostly 90%, a few lenders go to 95%, and repayments must be principal and interest.

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Do I get my LMI back if I refinance to a waiver lender?

Rarely. LMI is a one-off premium, and refunds happen only in very rare circumstances.

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Talk it through with Xaviera

Xaviera has 25 years in banking and lending, and has spent the last seven broking with medical professionals. A short call is the quickest way to see which lenders' waivers you qualify for, how far each goes, and how each would price your loan.