Questions we got asked this week: FIFO pay, LAFHA, bank statements and building up north
Every week the phones tell us what WA borrowers are actually wondering. This week: how banks read FIFO pay, whether a living away from home allowance counts for a home loan, business loans on bank statements alone, and what it really takes to build in the Pilbara. Quick answers, full guides linked.
One of the fun parts of being a WA mortgage broker is that the phones are an honest survey. Every week, the same handful of questions bubble up from Karratha to Bunbury. They tell you exactly what people are wrestling with. So here’s a new thing we’re trying: a quick Sunday roundup of the questions we actually got asked this week. Short answer up front, full guide linked if one of them is yours. No jargon, no lecture. Just the answers.
How do banks calculate FIFO income, rosters and site allowances?
Short answer: differently at every lender, and that is the whole story. Some take your full package including allowances at face value when it runs consistently. Some shade the variable parts, and some only trust the base. Same payslips, genuinely different borrowing power depending on who reads them.
This one came up three times this week alone, which surprises nobody who works up north. The pattern we see: someone earning strong, consistent mining money, and a first lender who read half of it. The fix is rarely more paperwork. It is the right reader. The full breakdown is in our guide on how FIFO income is assessed for a home loan, roster maths and all.
Can I use my living away from home allowance for a home loan?
Short answer: often yes, with the right lender, even though a properly structured LAFHA usually never appears on your tax return. It sits under fringe benefits rules rather than income tax, so the evidence lives in your payslips and employment contract instead. Lenders that know mining packages read it happily.
The tax return thing catches everyone. Your LAFHA is a fringe benefit on the ATO’s own definition. Great for tax, confusing for a lender reading only your notice of assessment. District allowances, housing allowances and site uplifts each have their own treatment too. We published the full guide on it this week: using your living away from home allowance for a home loan.
Can I get a business loan just using bank statements?
Short answer: yes, and it is now a whole market rather than a workaround. A growing segment of lenders assesses business finance straight from your trading account: money in, money out, conduct. No tax returns or financials for many products, and plenty advertise funding in as little as 24 hours for clean files.
The business owners asking this are usually sitting on a tax return that undersells them and statements that tell the truth. That gap is exactly what this market was built for. Matching the file to the right lender in it is where the results come from. The full landscape is in our business loans on bank statements guide: who the players are and what your statements need to show.
Can I get a construction loan to build a home in the Pilbara?
Short answer: yes. People build in Karratha, Hedland and Newman every year with construction loans behind them. The catch is the budget. Building up north runs a genuine premium over Perth, and the smooth builds priced it in from day one rather than discovering it at the first variation.
Costs are the backdrop to every building conversation right now. Construction costs surged so hard through the boom that CoreLogic’s index recorded its largest annual rise on record in 2022. Current builder data puts an average Perth four by two around $420,000, before the northern premium. Still stacks up against the rents these towns charge, with honest numbers. The whole picture is in our new guide on getting a construction loan to build in the Pilbara: costs, the premium and how the lending works.
Got a question for next week’s list?
Short answer: send it in. If you are wondering it, so are a dozen other people from Perth to Port Hedland. The questions we get asked are literally where our guides come from. No such thing as a silly one, and the asking costs nothing.
New here and wondering what to ask a broker in the first place? We wrote the cheat sheet: the 10 best questions to ask a WA mortgage broker. And if one of this week’s questions is your question, reach out. We will look at your situation properly and tell you where it sits. That is the whole job.
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Start with a chatThis guide is general information for the Australian market, not advice about your situation. Lender credit policy changes, and what applies to you depends on your circumstances. Pilbara Finance is a credit representative (478535) of Mortgage Specialists Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 387025.