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Box Hill has changed beyond recognition, with towers around the station and transport interchange sitting alongside the established housing that surrounds them. It is one of Melbourne’s genuine second cities, and the lending here reflects that density.
Box Hill has more high density apartment stock than almost anywhere outside the CBD, and that is the dominant lending consideration. Lenders manage concentration risk carefully in areas like this. Many cap how many apartments they will finance in a single building, and a number apply postcode-level restrictions here specifically, reducing the maximum loan to value ratio.
Minimum size thresholds matter too. A significant proportion of the newer stock is compact, and apartments below around fifty square metres internally can require a deposit of thirty or forty per cent rather than ten or twenty. The same building can produce completely different answers for a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom apartment.
Box Hill also has a high proportion of buyers with overseas income or recently arrived permanent residents, and lender policy on both varies enormously. Foreign income is commonly discounted or declined, and visa status determines which lenders will participate at all.
More density than almost anywhere outside the city. Lenders cap exposure per building and some restrict the postcode.
Both narrow the lender field considerably. Which lender you approach determines the answer.
Compact stock below fifty square metres can need a forty per cent deposit, or be declined outright.
Whatever stage you are at, there is a path through it. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Some do. A number of lenders maintain postcode lists where they reduce maximum loan to value ratios on apartments, and parts of Box Hill appear on several of them. Others treat it normally. Since it varies, your required deposit can differ significantly depending on which lender you approach, which is worth establishing before you offer.
With some lenders, yes. Many will use only sixty to eighty per cent of foreign income to allow for currency movement, and they restrict which countries and currencies they accept. Others decline foreign income entirely. If a material part of your income is from overseas, lender selection is the single biggest factor in what you can borrow.
Significantly. Australian citizens and permanent residents are treated as standard borrowers. Temporary residents face a much smaller pool of lenders, usually lower maximum loan to value ratios, and may need Foreign Investment Review Board approval depending on the property. The specific visa subclass matters.
Lenders view them as having thinner resale markets and more volatile values. Below around fifty square metres of internal living area many reduce the maximum loan substantially or decline. Always check the internal measurement, excluding balcony and car space, rather than the advertised total.
Book a free consultation and we will walk you through your options, what you can borrow, and what it will cost.
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Serving clients across Australia.
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Specialist Financial Group Australian Credit Licence no. 387025
Lydian Financial Services Victoria
Suite 1/103 Grimshaw Street, Greensborough VIC 3088, Australia
Level 12, 15 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Copyright © LYDIAN FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD 2026. All Right Reserved.