Every document you need for a home loan application in South Africa

A complete home loan application in South Africa needs your ID, three months of bank statements, three months of payslips, proof of residence and the signed Offer to Purchase. Self-employed applicants need considerably more: two years of audited financial statements, six months of business and personal bank statements, and a letter from your accountant.

An incomplete file is the most common cause of delay, and sometimes of decline. Banks assess what is in front of them.

If you are permanently employed

• Clear copy of your South African ID (or smart card, both sides)
• Latest three months’ payslips
• Latest three months’ bank statements showing your salary deposits, stamped or in original PDF from your bank
• Proof of residence not older than three months — municipal bill, bank statement or signed lease
• Signed Offer to Purchase
• Marriage certificate and antenuptial contract, if married

If you earn commission or variable income

Everything above, plus six months of payslips rather than three, and often six months of bank statements. Banks average variable income over a longer period, so a strong recent month will not carry the application on its own.

If you are self-employed or a business owner

• Clear copy of your ID
• Two years of audited or accountant-signed financial statements
• Six months of business bank statements
• Six months of personal bank statements
• A letter from your accountant confirming your income
• Company registration documents and a company profile
• Your latest personal and company tax assessments (ITA34)
• Proof of residence and the signed Offer to Purchase

Self-employed applications take longer and are assessed more conservatively. Start gathering these before you make an offer, not after.

If you are a foreign national

Valid passport, a valid work permit or permanent residence permit, and the standard employed-applicant documents. Note that non-residents without permanent residency are generally limited to a 50% loan-to-value, meaning a 50% deposit. If you hold permanent residency or a valid work permit and earn in rands, you are typically assessed as a South African applicant.

Practical points that speed things up

• Send original PDFs, not photographs. Phone photos of statements get rejected constantly.
• Do not crop or edit anything. Banks verify document integrity, and an edited PDF looks like a forgery.
• Explain unusual deposits. A large once-off deposit in your bank statement will be queried. Get ahead of it with a short note.
• Check your credit record first. You are entitled to a free report annually from each bureau. Errors take weeks to fix, so find them early.

If you would rather not assemble this alone, we check every page before anything is submitted — a clean file is often the difference between an approval and a decline. Talk to a consultant.