Newcastle Permanent forms part of Newcastle Greater Mutual Group after a merger with fellow Hunter-based Greater Bank in March 2023. The two combined to become the second-largest customer-owned bank in terms of assets.
As well as home loans, it offers personal loans, savings accounts, term deposits, credit cards, insurance and more.
Compare Newcastle Permanent Home Loans
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Extra Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.99% p.a. | 6.03% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.14% p.a. | 6.48% p.a. | $3,043 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $395 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.19% p.a. | 6.11% p.a. | $2,579 | Interest-only | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.19% p.a. | 6.23% p.a. | $3,059 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $595 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.29% p.a. | 7.97% p.a. | $3,092 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.29% p.a. | 7.82% p.a. | $3,092 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.34% p.a. | 6.68% p.a. | $3,108 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $395 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.39% p.a. | 8.31% p.a. | $3,124 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $0 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.39% p.a. | 8.10% p.a. | $3,124 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $0 | $0 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.39% p.a. | 7.98% p.a. | $3,124 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $395 | $0 | 95% |
Newcastle Permanent Home Loan Features
Newcastle Permanent has a wide selection of home loans for refinancers, owner occupiers, first home buyers, and property investors.
It offers variable and fixed rate home loans, and customers usually have the option of paying principal & interest, or interest-only.
Newcastle Permanent offers a broad selection of home loan features across select home loans:
Additional repayments: You can choose to pay above your minimum repayment to pay off your loan sooner – some loans allow maximum extra repayments of $25,000 per year.
Flexible repayment options: You can repay your loan monthly, fortnightly or weekly.
Split loan: Newcastle Permanent allows you to split your loan into both fixed and variable portions.
Offset account: You can link your home loan to your offset account, helping reduce the interest you need to pay. 100% offset facilities are available on the Premium Plus package loans.
- Bundled products: Packaged loans can get discounts to other products such as credit cards, personal loans, and insurance.
Fee-free redraw access: Newcastle Permanent home loans allow you to access any extra repayments you’ve made when you need it.
Repayment holiday: This mortgage feature, available in some Newcastle Permanent home loans, allows you to take a break from repaying your home loan when you experience financial challenges.
Reduced product fees: The package products give you access to other Newcastle Permanent products (credit cards, car loans) with $0 annual or application fees.
Bridging loan: Bridging loans supply finance to help you 'bridge the gap' if you have bought a new property before selling your old one.
Newcastle Permanent Packaged Loans Explained
The Premium Plus Package home loan offers a number of extra features.
Some fees waived: No establishment fee, no redraw fee, and no monthly fee.
Credit Card: The Value+ credit card has no annual fee.
Personal loans: Application fees are waived if applying for a personal loan through the package loan.
Insurance: Get a 5% discount on comprehensive car insurance, and 10% off home and contents, and landlord insurance.
Borrowers can also borrow up to 95% of the home’s value.
Newcastle Permanent Cashback Offer
Newcastle Permanent is one of the relatively few banks to have a longstanding cashback offer, up to the value of $3,000. It is available for new purchases or refinances.
Two thousand dollars is available for those borrowing up to $450,000, while $3,000 is on offer for those borrowing $500k or more. The maximum LVR allowable is 80%.
Importantly, this excludes internal refinances - including those made from Greater Bank.
The cashback will be paid within 60 days of loan settlement.
Newcastle Permanent Home Loan Approval Times
Newcastle Permanent says many of its home loans can be unconditionally approved in 1-2 weeks. Pre-approval can be quicker.
This is generally much slower than the big banks and fast digital lenders, who can approve many mortgage applications within a day.
This is why it's important to seek pre-approval if you can, and have all your documentation correct and ready, limiting back and forth with the bank's credit assessment team.
Pros and Cons of Newcastle Permanent Home Loans
Pros
- Competitive interest rates across a broad range of home loan options
- Genuine 100% offset accounts
- Longstanding cashback offers
- Profits that go to community initiatives and causes, not shareholders
- Local-based support
Cons
- Limited branch and ATM access may turn away some borrowers who prefer a physical presence
- Merger with Greater Bank means cashback offer excludes refinances from the Hunter compadre
- Might not offer the most comprehensive home loan solutions, including those for low doc or self employed borrowers
- Home loan approval time may be much quicker elsewhere
How to apply for a Newcastle Permanent home loan
Eligibility criteria
Newcastle Permanent has requirements which you need to meet before applying for a mortgage. Generally, you need to:
Be above 18 years old
Be an Australian resident
Be employed or earning a steady income
Not have been declared bankrupt
If you’re eligible for a Newcastle Permanent home loan, you may submit your application in your nearest Newcastle branch. Alternatively, you can hit ‘make an enquiry’ on the relevant home loan page online.
Documents needed
You will be required to provide certain documents when applying for a home loan. Newcastle Permanent will generally need the following:
Proof of identification such as your passport, Australian drivers licence, birth certificate or Medicare card.
Proof of income such as recent payslips or a signed letter from your employer. For the self-employed, you’ll need to provide your full personal and company tax returns for the last two financial years.
Other sources of income like rental income or family tax benefit/pension payments.
A first home owner grant application form if applicable.
Details of the property you’re buying.
Savings account statements.
Asset and liability documents.
Newcastle Permanent Branch & ATM Locations
Newcastle Permanent (in conjunction with Greater Bank) has about 90 ATMs and a handful of branches, primarily in the Newcastle-Hunter region. The branches include:
- Newcastle - Newcastle Mall
- Stockton - 53 Mitchell Street
- Newcastle West - Marketown West Shopping Centre
- The Junction - Cnr Union Street & Kenrick Street
- Hamilton - 122 Beaumont Street
- Waratah - Waratah Village Shopping Centre
- New Lambton - 50 Regrent Street
- Kotara - Westfield Kotara
- Jesmond - Jesmond Shopping Centre
- Charlestown - Charlestown Shopping Centre
Customers can also bank for free at Australia Post Bank@Post locations.
About Newcastle Permanent
Newcastle Greater Mutual employees more than 1,600 people, has more than 635,000 customers, has about 90 ATMs in its fleet, and a branch presence primarily in the northern NSW region, namely Newcastle, Charlestown and Maitland.
Being a customer-owned bank, means its customers, by virtue of joining, have an equal shareholding of the bank and can attend Annual General Meetings. Unlike an ASX or foreign-listed bank, Newcastle Permanent doesn’t have any shareholders to pay so it can return its profits to customers and regional communities through competitive interest rates and fees.
Speaking to the Savings Tip Jar podcast (episode 125), chief customer officer James Cudmore pointed to some of the benefits when banking with Newcastle Permanent.
"We've been around for around 120 years in one form or another, and we never take for granted the regional connection that we have," he said.
"Our profits only go to two places. It either goes back into the community - and we have a range of grants, and community programs. We actually spend ah proportionately more per customer than the major banks do in the areas that we operate.
"Or profit goes back into the business to make the services even better for customers."