HECS Freedom for First Home Buyers!

Scott,
 
You stuffed up last week in your column on higher education. The big headline from that report was that banks should NOT be allowed to take your HECS debt into account when you’re applying for a home loan. The report blasted this practice as unfair (as a young couple with HECS debt ourselves, I’d say greedy). You should have done so too!

Louise
 
Hi Louise,
 
Nah.
 
I read the recommendation and I thought it was … daft.
 
Look, I’m no friend of the banks, but I’m on their side on this one.  
 
After all, who are a bunch of academics to dictate a bank’s lending practices?
 
If the banks are looking at your expenses and drawing a red line around your HECS debt, it’s because they know it’s a factor in you being able to repay them … and that it’s a non-negotiable expense that scales up the more you earn.  

Scott.