Home loan top-ups

Need to renovate, fix up your garden, add extra space for a new family member, or make your home more energy-efficient? Topping up your home loan may be an option.

How to apply

Low interest top-ups for sustainable upgrades

You could borrow up to $80,000 at a 1% p.a. fixed rate for 3 years, to pay for eligible upgrades to your home or for electric transport options.^

Benefits of topping up

Lower interest

Take advantage of home loan interest rates, which are usually lower than a personal loan or a credit card.  

Pay for what you need

People often use a top-up to pay for home renovations, however, you can also apply for one to pay for a car. 

Flexible terms

Structure your top-up to suit you. Choose how long you’d like to pay it off over, at either a fixed or floating rate.

How top-ups work

A top-up means that you borrow money on top of your home loan using the equity in your home. It can either be:

  • consolidated with your existing home loan^
  • taken out as an additional loan.

How much you can borrow

The amount you are able to borrow depends on:

  • what the top-up is for
  • how much of your home loan you’ve already paid off
  • the value of your home and what your Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) is^^
  • whether you can still afford the repayments once your top-up is added.

Choose a fixed or floating rate

When applying for a top-up, you can choose either:

  • a fixed interest rate, so you know exactly what your repayments will be
  • a floating interest rate, so you can make additional lump sum repayments or change your repayment amount. This could shorten the time you have to pay back the top-up and get debt-free faster.

Renovations

If you want to use your top-up to do major renovations to your home, which may need a building consent, there’s additional information we’ll need.

Once we know what your plans are, we might ask you for:

  • copies of the building plan
  • a building contract
  • a council consent
  • a new registered valuation of your property. We will order this valuation, but you may need to pay towards the cost.

Contract works insurance

Homeowners undertaking new builds, renovations, or Better Future home loan top-up upgrades will need contract works insurance. You can choose to apply for this with IAG.^ Contact the IAG team on 0800 808 618 and they can get you set up over the phone.

How to apply for a top-up

BNZ app

Log in to the BNZ app and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines in the top left corner). Select Apply now, tap Loans, and choose Apply for a home loan top-up.

What to expect next

Apply online

You can apply for a home loan top-up anytime in Internet Banking or the BNZ app, or use the form below.

We’ll review your application

We’ll be in touch if we need more information, and if you’ve applied for the top up with someone else, we’ll contact them too.

We’ll get in touch

We’ll be in touch about your application. If your top-up is approved, we’ll confirm the details (like loan structure, interest rate, and any other conditions) and send your loan documentation for you to sign.