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Macroprudential policy

Timeline for loan-to-value ratio restrictions

This page provides a timeline of our actions and consultations relating to loan-to-value (LVR) restrictions from June 2013 to the present.

Published date:

November 2021

From 1 November 2021, LVR restrictions for owner-occupiers were further tightened to a maximum of 10% of new lending at LVRs above 80%.

Tighter LVRs proposed to reduce risky mortgage lending

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May 2021

From 1 May 2021, LVR restrictions for investors were further tightened to a maximum of 5% of new lending at LVRs above 60%.

March 2021

As of 1 March 2021, LVR restrictions were reinstated at the same level as before the onset of COVID-19—a maximum of 20% of new lending at LVRs above 80% for owner-occupiers and a maximum of 5% of new lending at LVRs above 70% for investors.

December 2020

From 8 December 2020 to 22 January 2021, we ran a public consultation on a proposal to reinstate LVR restrictions at the same level as before the onset of COVID-19.

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April 2020

We removed LVR restrictions for 12 months effective 1 May to ensure they did not have an undue impact on borrowers or lenders as part of the mortgage deferral scheme implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regulatory impact assessment: Removal of loan-to-value restrictions following the onset of COVID-19 (PDF 811 KB)

Summary of submissions – April 2020

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November 2018

We eased LVR restrictions at the start of 2019 after a short consultation with the banking industry. This resulted in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook effective 1 January 2019.

January 2018

We eased LVR restrictions at the start of 2018 after a short consultation with industry. This resulted in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook.

September 2016

We published a response to submissions on changes to the LVR restriction rules. The changes were reflected in minor revisions to the Banking Supervision Handbook. We also published a regulatory impact assessment.

Response to submissions on adjustments to restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (PDF 1 MB)

BS19 Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (PDF 174 KB)

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July 2016

We published a consultation paper on further adjustments to the LVR policy.

Consultation paper: Adjustments to restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (PDF 1.3 MB)

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August 2015

We finalised changes to the capital adequacy requirements for residential mortgage loans for investment properties. This included defining owner-occupied property for the purposes of new LVR restrictions.

We also published a response to submissions on changes to the LVR restriction rules and released a regulatory impact assessment as part of the response to submissions. The changes were reflected in an updated version of the Banking Supervision Handbook (BS19).

June 2015

We published a consultation paper on proposed changes to the LVR policy (amended 4 June), including tighter restrictions on Auckland investor lending.

March 2014

We released our response to submissions on the construction exemptions in BS19 in March 2014, and this was reflected in a revised Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (released November 2015) and we then finalised the exemption. We also consulted on some minor changes to BS2A/BS2B that required minor consequential changes to BS19. These were finalised in June 2014.

December 2013

We announced we would introduce an exemption for high-LVR construction lending. We published:

  • questions and answers about the construction lending exemption
  • a related consultation paper
  • draft of Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending.

Download consultation paper: Framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (2013) (PDF 183 KB)

pdf 182.08 KB

October 2013

We released documents relating to the development and implementation of restrictions on high-LVR mortgage lending.

August 2013

We announced our intention to implement restrictions on high loan-to-value ratio (LVR) lending. From 1 October 2013, banks were required to restrict new residential mortgage lending at LVRs over 80% (a deposit of less than 20%) to no more than 10% of the dollar value of their total new residential mortgage lending. We also released a regulatory impact assessment of this policy.

We also published:

  • a response to submissions
  • a revised framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending
  • a revised Statement of Principles.

Download the Summary of submissions on framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending (BS19) (PDF 159 KB)

pdf 158.13 KB

June 2013

We released a technical consultation package relating to restrictions on LVR residential mortgage lending. This package included:

  • a consultation paper
  • proposed changes to the Banking Supervision Handbook and banks’ conditions of registration as set out in the draft framework for restrictions on high-LVR residential mortgage lending
  • draft changes to the Statement of Principles.

Older LVR consultation documents

View older documents relating to LVR consultations (pre-2016)