Home loan requirements for commission earners in South Africa
The short answer: South African banks must average fluctuating income over at least three pay periods — NCA regulation 23A(5). How much further back each bank looks, and how it weights commission, is its own unpublished credit policy. Standard Bank’s published checklist asks variable-income earners for six payslips; the other major banks publish no commission-specific list.
What the law actually requires for variable income
Exactly one averaging rule is written down, and it is a floor — not a method.
The National Credit Act’s affordability assessment regulations say surprisingly little about fluctuating income. Here is the passage in full — it is the only legal averaging rule for commission, overtime or any other variable income in South Africa:
“Where the consumer’s monthly gross income shows material variance, the average gross income over the period of not less than three (3) pay periods preceding the credit application must be utilised.”
Read it twice and notice what it does and does not do. It forces the bank to average — a single bumper month cannot be used as your income, and neither can a single bad one. But it sets a floor of three pay periods, not a prescribed window, and it never defines what counts as “material variance”. Beyond that floor, everything about how your commission is read is left to each bank’s credit policy.
Just as important is what the regulations do not contain: any instalment-to-income cap. The affordability assessment works from discretionary income — your gross income minus the regulation’s minimum expense norms and your disclosed debts — not from a fixed percentage of what you earn. We unpack the popular “30% rule” and where it really comes from further down this page.
What each bank actually publishes on commission income
Every claim below was checked against the bank's own published material on 9 October 2026. This is the full extent of it.
| Bank | What it publishes on commission income | Source, dated |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Bank | The only major bank with a published commission-specific ask: applicants with variable monthly income must supply the six most recent salary advices (the latest not older than two months), plus the three latest consecutive months of statements for the account into which net salary, inclusive of commissions and overtime, is deposited. | Home Loan Application Minimum Document Checklist (form 00187622, standardbank.co.za), accessed 9 October 2026 |
| Nedbank | No commission-specific list. Its published “ready to apply” checklist asks every applicant for a latest payslip or other proof of income and the latest three months’ bank statements — the same generic baseline, with nothing that singles out commission. | Nedbank “ready to apply” checklist and home-loan FAQ (personal.nedbank.co.za), accessed 9 October 2026 |
| FNB | No commission-specific document list that we could verify on FNB’s own public pages. A caution: some third-party articles cite a “FirstBond” pack as FNB policy — FirstBond is an unrelated private bond originator, not FNB. | FNB public site checked 9 October 2026; no FNB-published commission document list found |
| Absa | Nothing published specifically on commission income as of 9 October 2026 — its generic home-loan document requirements apply, and anything beyond that is unpublished credit policy. | Absa public site checked 9 October 2026; no commission-specific document list found |
That table is shorter than the internet suggests it should be, and that is the finding. One bank publishes a commission-specific document ask; the others publish a generic checklist and leave the rest to their credit policies. The document requirements above were accurate on 9 October 2026, but lenders change their checklists without notice — treat this as a record of what was published, not a promise of what will be asked at your application.
Where do the confident “six months of commission payslips” or “up to twelve months” claims in blog posts come from? Mostly from bond originators, who generalise across lenders. ooba’s own published FAQ, for example, asks salaried applicants for three months’ payslips and six months’ bank statements, with nothing commission-specific (accessed 9 October 2026). Useful as a packing list, but treat any originator’s month range as a generalisation, not confirmed policy of any particular bank.
What no bank publishes: the commission-averaging formula
The part every commission earner actually wants to know is the part nobody will put in writing.
No South African bank publishes how it averages commission. Not the window it averages over, not how it weights a weak month against a strong one, not whether it discounts a fluctuating figure before the affordability test, and not what level of month-to-month movement counts as “material variance”. None of it appears in the Act, the regulations prescribe no formula, and none of the four major banks’ public material fills the gap.
You will find articles that state a specific method — “banks average your best three of the last six months” or “commission is discounted by 20%”. No such formula is published anywhere by any lender, so treat those figures as guesses dressed up as policy. The honest position is the one this page takes: the law sets a three-period averaging floor, Standard Bank asks for six months of payslips, and everything beyond that is negotiated one application at a time.
The practical consequence cuts in your favour: because each bank reads the same file under its own unpublished policy, one lender’s conservative read is another’s comfortable one. Preparation and applying to more than one bank do more for a commission earner than any formula ever could.
The 30% rule, traced to its source
The most repeated number in South African bond advice is not in the Act. Here is its actual lineage.
You will hear it everywhere: a bank will not let your bond instalment exceed 30% of your gross income. It is stated with total confidence, usually as if it were written into the National Credit Act. It is not. Neither the Act nor its affordability regulations contain any instalment-to-income percentage.
Tracing the number backward: SA Home Loans’ own affordability guidance has described a general maximum instalment of 30% of gross income, and ooba’s chief executive made a similar point in an interview reported by TimesLIVE in July 2023. Both are lender-and-originator policy statements about how they prefer to lend — reasonable, publishable, and frequently repeated. Somewhere along the way, the repetition hardened into “the law says 30%”.
What the law actually does, via regulation 23A, is subtract: gross income, minus the regulation’s minimum expense norms, minus your existing debt repayments, leaves the discretionary income the instalment must fit within. A bank applying a 30% habit is applying its own risk appetite, not complying with a statute — which is why the same applicant can be assessed against different effective limits at different banks, and why an estimate is an estimate, never a verdict.
What to gather before you apply
No bank publishes a commission-earner packing list in full, so build one that satisfies the strictest published ask.
- Your six most recent payslips or commission advices — the ask Standard Bank’s published checklist makes of variable-income earners, and a safe baseline everywhere.
- Six months of bank statements for the account the commission is paid into. Statements must show the money landing — a bank can only average what it can see.
- A letter from your employer or principal explaining how your commission is structured and paid.
- Your latest IRP5 and, if you also earn other variable income, the records for it.
Run your commission through one account, keep the trail clean, and start gathering before you find a property rather than after. If you trade through your own business rather than earning commission from an employer, the closer fit is our self-employed home loan guide; for the full segment-by-segment checklist, see our home-loan documents guide.
Straight answers about commission income and home loans
How many months of commission income do banks look at?
The law sets a floor, not a period: where your gross income shows material variance, the bank must use the average over not less than three pay periods before your application (NCA regulation 23A(5)). In practice, prepare six months of payslips or commission advices and matching bank statements — Standard Bank’s published checklist asks variable-income earners for exactly that. Anything beyond the legal floor is each bank’s own unpublished policy, so confirm with the specific lender before you apply.
How do banks average commission income?
When your income fluctuates, a bank must work from an average of your gross income over recent pay periods rather than a single payslip. But the averaging formula — the window it chooses, how it weights a weak month, whether it discounts the figure — is set by each bank’s internal credit policy, and no South African bank publishes it. If an article states a specific formula or discount percentage, it is guessing; treat any such figure as unverified.
Can I get a home loan on commission only, with no base salary?
There is no rule in the National Credit Act that stops a pure-commission earner from getting a home loan, and estate agents and brokers are approved regularly. The bank simply has less stable income to work with, so it leans harder on your documented earnings history and bank statements showing the commission actually landing. Expect closer scrutiny, expect different banks to read the same file differently, and treat every outcome as an assessment — nothing here is a guarantee.
Is the 30% instalment rule actually law?
No. The often-quoted cap of 30% of gross income appears nowhere in the National Credit Act or its regulations. The affordability assessment in regulation 23A works from discretionary income — what remains after the regulation’s minimum expense norms and your existing debts — and sets no fixed instalment-to-income percentage. The 30% figure traces to lender and originator guidance: SA Home Loans’ affordability material has described a general maximum of 30%, and ooba’s chief executive made a similar point in an interview reported by TimesLIVE in July 2023. It has since been repeated as if it were statute. It is a policy habit, not a rule of law.
What documents should a commission earner gather before applying?
A safe baseline: your six most recent payslips or commission advices, six months of bank statements for the account the commission is paid into, a letter from your employer or principal explaining how your commission is structured, and your latest IRP5. Standard Bank’s published checklist makes the pattern explicit: statements must be for the account into which your net salary, inclusive of commissions, is deposited — a bank can only average what it can see landing.
Which bank is best for commission earners?
There is no honest way to rank them, because no bank publishes how it averages or weights commission, so the same application is routinely assessed differently from one lender to the next. The practical answer is preparation and coverage: assemble a clean six-month paper trail, then have your application assessed by more than one bank — directly or through an originator — instead of guessing which lender’s unpublished formula happens to suit your income pattern. Start with an estimate of what you can afford, and read our guide to how much home loan you can get.
Informational disclaimer
This guide is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Bank document requirements and credit policies differ between South African lenders and change over time; the published sources cited on this page were checked on 9 October 2026 and may since have changed. Nothing here is a specific lender’s current requirement list. Nothing on this page guarantees a specific rate, assessment outcome or approval — every application is assessed case by case. For advice on your personal financial position, consult a qualified financial adviser.
Last updated: 2026-10-09.
More in applying & documents
The most recently updated guides in this category.
How building loans work in South Africa: progress payments, interest-only draws, NHBRC-registered builders, approved plans and the extra documents banks need.
Updated 09 Oct 20267 min read
A sourced comparison of ooba and BetterBond — cost to you, bank panels, turnaround claims and reviews — why neither is reliably better, and when a third route (your own bank’s written offer) belongs in the mix.
Updated 09 Oct 20267 min read
The tips that actually strengthen a South African home loan application: what to avoid, when to apply, and where the full detail on documents, credit and timing lives.
Updated 09 Oct 20267 min read