Responsible lending / affordability assessment

Under the CCCFA, lenders can't simply approve anyone who asks. They must make reasonable enquiries into your income and expenses, satisfy themselves that you can meet the repayments without substantial hardship, and check the loan actually meets your needs. This is why applications ask about your outgoings, and why lenders look at bank statements.

In a refinance, the assessment can work in your favour: you're not asking for new money, you're replacing an existing repayment, often with a smaller one. A loan that lowers your committed outgoings is an easier affordability story than one that raises them. It's still a genuine assessment, though, and approval is always the lender's call.