Home loans in Hillarys
Construction Loans Hillarys
Construction loans in Hillarys work differently from a plain home purchase, and Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys arranges them across the northern beaches, publishing the drawdown schedule, the costs and the process most lenders leave buried in fine print.
Your Builder Wants a Progress Payment. Where Does It Come From?
Your builder invoices in stages, your bank releases in stages, and that gap is where construction budgets wobble, so this page publishes the whole mechanism, starting with what gets built and funded here in Hillarys.
Construction Loans We Arrange
Hillarys recorded 191 dwelling approvals across the last five years, a building pulse most of the northern beaches shares, and behind each approval sits a lending job that differs from the next. Here is how we structure the six main variants we arrange across this suburb and its neighbours:
First buyers pairing a build with the First Home Owner Grant can read our first home buyer guide, and smaller projects often suit home renovation loans instead of full construction facilities.
Standard Progress Loan
Standard construction lending releases funds in stages as your builder finishes each milestone, and interest accrues only on money already drawn, never the whole limit, which keeps carrying costs lower while slab, frame, lock-up and fit-out progress month by month.
House and Land
House and land packages split into two transactions, a land settlement followed by construction drawdowns, and lenders treat them differently on deposit, final valuation and timing, so we confirm both sides hold together before you sign anything with the builder.
Knockdown Rebuild
Knockdown rebuild projects carry a demolition phase before any construction actually begins, and lenders want to see the demolition contract, salvaged material disposal and a clear title position, all assembled early so your approval never stalls once the excavator arrives.
Vacant Land First
Vacant land purchases can sit on a simple loan while you design, then convert into a construction facility once plans and a fixed price contract exist, and timing that conversion protects you from paying build interest on an empty block.
Owner Builder Routes
Owner builder work is the hardest variant to place, because most mainstream lenders decline owner managed builds outright and the few who accept them want cost estimates, insurance documentation and an inspection regime, which is where a specialist panel matters.
Renovation With Approval
Renovations needing council approval sit between a simple top up and construction lending, and the right structure depends on cost, whether a licensed builder is contracted and how much equity your Hillarys home holds, all questions we answer before applying.
How Construction Funds Actually Move Through a Build
Every construction facility releases money in stages, never as a lump sum, and the schedule below reflects the pattern lenders in Western Australia typically follow for a standard build. Percentages vary by lender and contract, so treat this as a map rather than a rule:
| Stage | Typical share released | What triggers the payment |
|---|---|---|
| Slab | 10% | Base laid, plumbing roughed in, slab inspected and certified |
| Frame | 15% | Frame complete and signed off by the building certifier |
| Lock-up | 25% | External walls, windows and roofing make the home weatherproof |
| Fit-out | 30% | Internal linings, joinery, kitchens, bathrooms and fixtures installed |
| Completion | 20% | Practical completion inspection passed, occupancy certificate and handover |
Questions answered
The Money Questions Worth Answering Before You Sign
A construction budget is really four budgets running at once: the loan, the household, the buffer and the timeline. As an illustration with stated assumptions: a $600,000 build drawn down evenly across ten months carries interest only on the released balance, and the repayment climbs at every stage, so we model the monthly figure before you commit. These are the four cost questions we walk every Hillarys client through before contracts are exchanged:
Interest While Building
Interest only on drawn funds is the standard arrangement during a build, meaning a month where the lender has released $150,000 charges interest on $150,000, not the approved total, and the repayment climbs at each progressive drawdown until practical completion.
Rent and Interest Together
Rent or a mortgage on your current Hillarys home usually runs alongside those partial interest payments, and we model the combined monthly figure across the whole build timeline up front, because discovering the squeeze in month four helps absolutely nobody.
Your Contingency Buffer
A contingency buffer, held in your own savings rather than borrowed, absorbs the variations and site cost surprises that nearly every build produces, and lenders increasingly ask exactly where that buffer sits before they will approve the facility at all.
Extended Builds Cost More
Extended build timelines cost more than most build budgets allow for, because every extra month adds interest on drawn funds, exposes your fixed price contract to expiry and delays the day your household stops paying two accommodation costs at once.
How it works
Our Construction Loans Process
Timelines matter more in construction than any other lending type, because your builder's program does not pause while a bank thinks. This is the sequence Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys runs, with the durations we actually see from Perth metro lenders rather than optimistic brochure figures:
- 1
Week One Strategy
Week one covers the strategy conversation, where we map deposit, equity, income and the builder's contract, settle which construction structure actually fits your project, and hand you a precise document list so nothing waits on paperwork at any later stage.
- 2
Documents and Lodgement
Document collection and lodgement take one to two weeks, covering the fixed price build contract, plans and specifications, your income evidence and any land settlement papers, after which the file goes directly to the lender and formal assessment properly begins.
- 3
Assessment and Valuation
Formal assessment runs one to two weeks at most lenders, including a valuation of the finished home based on the plans rather than today's land value, and conditional approval typically arrives within days of the valuer's report reaching credit assessment.
- 4
Approval and Settlement
Unconditional approval and loan documents take roughly another week, then settlement against the land or the first progress claim falls due, with construction funds drawn progressively as each incoming valuation confirms the stage your builder has genuinely finished on site.
- 5
Drawdowns Underway
Drawdowns during the build run on a one to two week cycle per claim once invoices and inspections clear, and we monitor the schedule against your contract so a slow claim never becomes a slow build or strained builder relationship.
Where Construction Projects Fall Over
Construction files fail in predictable places, rarely on the borrower's income and almost always at the joins between contract, valuation and lender policy. We have seen each of these four stall a northern beaches build, and every one is avoidable with preparation:
Fixed Price Variations
Fixed price contract variations are the classic trap, because allowances for site works, soil conditions and finishes rarely match reality, and each variation needs lender notification, sometimes reassessment, so we read the allowance schedule carefully with you before you sign.
Valuation Falls Short
Valuations on completion occasionally come in below total cost, particularly after rapid material price movements, which leaves a funding gap nobody budgeted for, so we stress test the estimate against recent local sales before you commit to any builder's contract.
Builder Off Panel
Builders outside your lender's panel create friction, because some lenders restrict who they will fund, require extra registration checks or simply decline, and we always confirm your builder's registration standing with shortlisted lenders before contracts are exchanged rather than afterwards.
Approval Runs Out
Builds running past the loan approval expiry cause the nastiest surprises, because conditional approvals carry time limits, typically six months for land or twelve for construction, and extension requests mid build mean fresh assessment when you can least afford it.
Why Choose Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys
Trust has to be built from things you can verify on the spot, not from claims about a history nobody has checked. These four commitments sit behind every construction loan Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys arranges, and each one is testable during your very first conversation:
One Accountable Broker
Your construction loan is handled by Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys, who sits under credit representative number 370592 and Australian Credit Licence 389328 in the footer, and answers for your file from first call to final progress payment, no rotating cast.
Panel Not Bank
Because we work across a panel of lenders rather than selling one bank's product, a policy quirk that sinks your file at one lender rarely ends the conversation, it redirects us to a construction lender whose rules fit your project.
No Direct Cost
Most construction clients pay us nothing, since lender commission on settlement covers our work, and we put that disclosure plus every lender fee in writing before you sign anything, so the cost of acting on our advice is visible early.
Process Before Product
Process comes before product, which means you see the drawdown schedule, the timeline, the document list and the cost picture before any lender is chosen, because a construction loan managed well owes more to sequencing than to any headline figure.
Areas We Service
From Hillarys, Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys arranges construction lending across Perth's northern beaches, working with builders and owner occupiers in Kallaroo, Craigie, Padbury, Duncraig and Sorrento, as well as clients building further along the coast who want a broker who answers the phone.
Questions answered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much deposit do I need for a construction loan in Hillarys?
Lenders generally want a deposit covering both the land purchase and the build contract, with the exact figure depending on lender policy and your overall position, and equity in an existing Hillarys home often substitutes for saved cash entirely.
What does a construction loan cost me during the build?
During construction you typically pay interest only on funds already drawn, plus your normal accommodation costs, while application fees, valuation charges at each stage and any lender establishment fees should be disclosed in writing before you commit.
How do progress payments work at each build stage?
Your builder completes a stage, invoices the lender, and funds are released once a valuation confirms the work, with the typical sequence running slab, frame, lock-up, fit-out and completion, each releasing a set share of the loan.
Can I pay interest only while my home is being built?
Yes, most construction loans switch to interest only repayments on drawn funds during the build, then convert to principal and interest once construction finishes, though the right repayment structure depends on your income and whether you hold another mortgage.
What happens if my build costs more than the contract?
Variations above the contract price usually need your own funds, sometimes lender notification or reassessment, which is why we insist on a contingency buffer and read the allowance schedule with you before any contract is signed.
Do lenders in Western Australia work with owner builders?
A few specialist lenders accept owner builders with detailed cost estimates, insurance evidence and staged inspections, but most mainstream lenders decline them outright, so the lender panel you can actually access depends heavily on your building credentials.
Mortgage broker for Hillarys and the suburbs around it
Have Your Build Funded Properly: Talk to a Hillarys Construction Broker This Week
Ring (08) 6311 4000 during business hours, or send a message through this site, and Your Mortgage Broker Hillarys will map your drawdown schedule, your contingency buffer and an honest build budget in one free conversation, this week rather than after the contract is signed.