Clean Energy Home Loan New Build
A mortgage for buying, building or refinancing a qualifying new, all-electric Australian home, with a reduced variable rate for five years or fixed rate for three years.
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Bank Australia lends to owner-occupiers and investors whose new home meets its energy criteria. The loan is secured: normally you give the bank a first registered mortgage over property, giving it a first-ranking claim on that property to secure repayment, or other security it accepts. New borrowing starts at A$10,000. The loan can run up to 30 years, or 25 years under the ACT Land Rent Scheme.
You repay principal and interest weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Construction borrowing can instead use monthly interest-only payments for up to 12 months, with funds drawn as the build progresses. That postpones repaying the borrowed principal during that period. The reduced-rate period is shorter than the possible loan term: variable pricing lasts 60 months from settlement, or the fixed rate lasts three years. Afterwards either option reverts to the lowest advertised variable Offset Home Loan rate then available.
The rate schedule effective 18 September 2026 lists annual variable rates of 5.88% for owner-occupiers and 6.04% for investors on the New Build principal-and-interest product. Rates can change. The loan has an A$199 non-refundable annual fee, charged to the loan at funding and each anniversary; the establishment fee is zero. Mortgage discharge costs A$275 plus government fees. Budget separately for applicable legal costs, stamp duty, building reports and insurance.
When borrowing exceeds 80% of property value, lenders mortgage insurance normally adds a one-off, non-refundable and non-transferable premium to the home loan, increasing the amount you borrow. The bank’s accounts table identifies owner-occupier exceptions under the General Stream and Single Parent Stream of the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. For eligible buyers, a government guarantee removes that insurance cost, subject to the scheme’s separate eligibility and property-price limits.
An offset account reduces the loan balance on which interest is calculated by the linked account balance; it does not itself repay principal. The amount that can offset a fixed-rate loan is capped at A$20,000. On a variable principal-and-interest loan, redraw lets you access available money previously paid above your scheduled repayments. Redraw is unavailable during fixed-rate or interest-only periods. Extra fixed-rate payments, early payout or switching can trigger a potentially substantial break fee reflecting the bank’s loss from interest-rate movements. For loans entered from 1 June 2022, the bank adds the amount your repayments are ahead of schedule to any loan payout or switch amount. If that total exceeds A$30,000 during the fixed-rate period, the break-fee calculation applies to the excess. The A$30,000 threshold covers the whole fixed period; the fee itself depends on the bank’s calculation. Ask the bank for the applicable calculation before changing payments or repaying early.
Eligibility
Applicants must be at least 18, meet the bank’s credit assessment and be Australian residents for tax purposes. The property must be in Australia, worth no more than A$2.5 million, and bought, built or refinanced under this loan. Borrowing must not exceed 90% of property value—the loan-to-value ratio. If several properties secure the loan, the qualifying property must provide at least 65% of their combined security value.
For a completed home, the occupancy permit/certificate or final-inspection certificate must show completion within the 18 months before application. The property can qualify only once. Mandatory criteria are:
- All fixed cooking, hot-water and space-heating appliances must be electric, with no gas. For apartments and strata homes this also covers common systems in the base building.
- A Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) energy-performance rating of at least 7.5 out of 10, normally assessed from the home’s design plans. An apartment must meet this individually; a building-average rating does not suffice. Provide a coloured certificate from an accredited assessor showing the property address. In the ACT, the bank also accepts a black-and-white certificate from a non-accredited assessor if accompanied by an ACT Energy Efficiency Rating certificate from the same assessor with the same star rating.
- Freestanding homes need rooftop solar of any size; apartments and strata properties are exempt from this requirement. The supplier must be a New Energy Tech Approved Seller for solar PV, the individual installer must be Solar Accreditation Australia-accredited, and panels and inverter must appear on the relevant Clean Energy Council approved lists.
Evidence must establish eligibility at application and be dated before applying. The bank may decline the loan or remove the reduced rate if it cannot verify the conditions. A construction pathway can be considered before completion: the customer and builder submit their declaration to follow qualifying plans, together with the mandatory-criteria evidence. Changes to rooftop-solar plans must be discussed with the bank.
How to apply
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Prepare the NatHERS and completion certificates and evidence of an all-electric home—for example a certificate listing electricity-only energy use, gas-disconnection confirmation, or a sale contract/certified valuation showing no gas connection. If that evidence is insufficient, a signed all-electric customer declaration supported by a signed statutory declaration is an accepted alternative.
Where solar is required, use a paid invoice, committed proposal, electrical-safety certificate or signed building contract showing supplier/installer credentials and panel/inverter details; a supply/installation statement can supplement missing information. Electrical work must be carried out by an electrician licensed in the relevant state or territory, with any additional required qualifications.
Use “Apply” on the official New Build page for a loan or pre-approval, with your driver’s licence or passport and Medicare card to start. For construction, discuss the criteria with your builder and the bank first and submit the construction declaration. The bank assesses credit and verifies the property; undertaking qualifying work does not guarantee loan approval.