Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac face Senate housing inquiry over home loan barriers for Australians
Australia’s big four banks are facing scrutiny over home loan barriers as thousands of Aussies struggle to break into the property market.
Australians locked out of the housing market need better conditions and transparency for borrowing money, a national inquiry will be told.
A Senate committee examining intergenerational housing inequity has heard about the precarious market young Australians are stuck in, often at the mercy of lenders.
The country’s big four banks, Commonwealth, NAB, ANZ and Westpac, are set to appear during the inquiry’s final day on Thursday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Collectively, the banks made $16.9 billion from owner-occupier home loans in 2025, data from The Australia Institute showed.
But thousands of Australians were struggling to secure home loans, preventing them from buying their first properties.
Limited access to credit and the broader home lending ecosystem were some of the main reasons Australians were locked into renting, an inquiry submission from Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia’s chief executive Anja Pannek said.
“Housing remains the primary vehicle for long-term wealth creation. Those who enter the market earlier are more likely to accumulate wealth. Those who cannot face compounding financial disadvantage over time,” she said ahead of her scheduled appearance before the inquiry.
She recommended better education about home loan credit, increased transparency from lenders about how approvals are determined and more dynamic application assessments.
“Brokers consistently see that improving how home loan application information is assessed by lenders would reduce delays, improve certainty and support more timely access to home ownership,” she said.
Opening the housing market to more Australian buyers is just one part of the inquiry’s aim.
The rights of renters, who make up roughly a third of the country’s population, are also expected to be discussed on Thursday.
Greens Senator Barbara Pocock said it had been made clear to her that governments “just don’t care” about renters and people sleeping rough. She wanted their stories highlighted during the inquiry she spearheaded.
“The housing system we have, created by successive Labor and coalition governments, was deliberately designed to benefit corporate greed, the banks, property developers and investors, not ordinary people simply trying to get by,” she told AAP.
“What stands out are the numerous layers of housing inequity in our country.”
