Australia Caps High-Risk Mortgage Lending at 20%
Smart regulation protecting financial stability and housing affordability, or a damning indictment of the government’s housing policy?
Above: Houses under construction at a housing development in Menangle Park, Sydney, on Feb. 20, 2025. Image credit: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-government narrative
The APRA's new lending rules strengthen Australia's financial system while improving housing affordability for buyers. These prudent measures help manage emerging economic risks while creating improved pathways for first-time buyers to enter the housing market. Examples of smart regulation like this protect both lenders and borrowers.
Government-critical narrative
The mortgage caps imposed by APRA are a direct rebuke of the Albanese government's dangerous 5% mortgage rule, which sought to remove critical safeguards and would have threatened the banking sector's stability. The regulator's intervention proves that Labor's approach to the housing crisis lacks even the most rudimentary fiscal responsibility.