More than half of Lewisham’s homes are apartments and nearly half are rented, in a small suburb with its own railway station.
Buying an investment first can cost you first home buyer benefits later. NSW stamp duty relief and the First Home Owner Grant need you to move in, and the 5% Deposit Scheme is for a home you live in.
What you keep is the rental income, counted by lenders at around 80 per cent, and the option to move in later.
Just under six in ten homes in Lewisham are apartments, nearly three times the share across NSW. That brings the levies, the sinking fund and any defect history into how a lender reads the building.
47.1% of homes here are rented, against 32.6% across NSW. For an investor that means a deep rental market, and an agent’s rental appraisal is easy to get when a lender asks. At 1,956 homes, Lewisham is one of the smaller suburbs nearby, which can make a valuation the slowest part of the loan.
Separate housesTownhouses and semisApartments
apartments NSW 21.7%
separate houses NSW 65.6%
terraces and semis NSW 11.7%
rented NSW 32.6%
with a mortgage NSW 32.5%
private dwellings
Source: ABS Census 2021, Suburbs and Localities (SAL12322).
No LMI: an estimated $22,800 premium avoided (a broad guide; real premiums vary by lender and loan).
Stamp duty: $0 for eligible NSW first home buyers (saves $30,187).
Indicative only. The deposit excludes stamp duty, legal and inspection costs, and a participating lender, not this calculator, confirms 5% Deposit Scheme eligibility.
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Rentvesting means buying a property to rent out, often somewhere more affordable or closer to transport, while you keep renting where you want to live.
The lender treats it as an investment: it counts part of the expected rent as income, includes your own rent as an ongoing expense, and prices the loan as an investment loan.
The part that surprises people is the first home rules. First home buyer concessions and the 5% Deposit Scheme are generally for buyers who will live in the property, so an investment purchase does not use them, and owning a property first can affect whether you qualify later. Checking that before you buy is essential. First home buyer schemes in NSW
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
Lewisham lies about seven kilometres south-west of the city in Inner West Council, sharing postcode 2049 with Petersham. Lewisham station is on the Inner West line, with trains to the city and west towards Strathfield, and the Lewisham West light rail stop is nearby.
Its heritage-listed structures include the Long Cove Creek railway viaducts and the sewage aqueduct over the creek.
Most first home buyer benefits are for owner-occupiers. The 5% Deposit Scheme requires you to live in the property, and the New South Wales first home buyer duty concessions come with residence requirements, so an investment purchase does not use them.
Owning an investment property can also affect whether you count as a first home buyer when you later buy a home to live in. The rules differ between schemes and change from time to time, so check the current criteria before you buy. First home buyer schemes in NSW.
If you later move into the apartment you bought as an investment, the loan may need to change.
Some lenders price investment and owner-occupier loans differently, so telling your lender about the change can alter the rate, and your tax position changes too, which is worth discussing with your accountant.
Planning for that switch at the start, including the loan structure and whether to use interest-only, makes it simpler later. Refinancing explained.
Rentvesting means covering two costs: your own rent, and the investment’s loan, levies and rates, offset by the rent you receive. Lenders assess both sides, so the numbers need to work on paper before they work in practice.
A buffer for vacancies, repairs and rate rises is sensible, particularly in the first years. Estimate the cost of owning.
Three paths Lewisham buyers weigh, and what each means.
The groundwork that keeps a rentvesting plan on track.
It means buying a property to rent out while continuing to rent where you live. It can suit people who want to own property but prefer to live somewhere they cannot yet afford to buy. Lenders treat the purchase as an investment.
No. The scheme is for buyers who will live in the property. An investment purchase uses a standard investment loan, and lenders mortgage insurance usually applies if the deposit is below 20 per cent.
It can. Owning a property, even an investment, may affect whether you qualify as a first home buyer for some schemes and concessions later. The rules differ and change from time to time, so check the current criteria before you buy.
Yes. Lenders include your rent as an ongoing expense, because you will be paying it alongside the investment loan. Part of the investment’s expected rent is counted as income, which offsets some of that.
Yes. If you do, tell your lender, because investment and owner-occupier loans can be priced differently, and your tax position changes. Planning for the switch at the start makes it simpler.
Nobody can promise how a property will perform; that is a property question, not a lending one. From a lending view, a well-kept apartment with a sound strata report and reasonable levies is usually straightforward security.
One free call covers what you could borrow in Lewisham, the lenders that suit the property you want and the order to do things in.
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General information only, not credit or financial advice. Lender policies and government scheme criteria differ and change over time. All lending is subject to individual assessment and approval.
