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Straight Answers · Refinancing
Is the available balance on my home loan really money I can spend?
Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 3 September 2026 · 3 min read
The short answer
Yes, in most cases. The available amount on your home loan is your redraw: extra repayments and lump sums you've put in that you can pull back out and spend as you see fit.
Balance is what you owe. Scheduled balance is your balance plus the available amount, which is where the loan would be if you'd only ever paid the minimum. The gap between the two is money you've paid ahead, and the moment it matters most is when you change lenders.
The one minute version. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.
What the available amount actually is
When I'm having a chat with a client, they'll give me their balance figure. What I'll always make sure to confirm is whether there's an amount that says it is available. That available amount is your redraw. It's money you could theoretically pull out of your home loan and spend, because it's the additional repayments or lump sums you've put into the loan that you can take back later.
So if your loan says balance $420k, available $35k, you owe $420k today and you've got $35k sitting ahead of schedule that the bank will let you take back. Your scheduled balance is $455k, which is where you'd be if you'd only ever made the minimum repayment.
Why it matters when you switch lenders
When we're looking at changing lenders, we ask the question up front: do you want to keep that amount as available cash for you, or are you happy for your loan to be permanently reduced to the current balance and forgo the ability to pull out that available amount?
Both are fine answers, but they're different loans. Keep it available and the new loan is set up at the scheduled balance with the extra sitting in redraw or offset. Let it go and the new loan is smaller, the repayment is lower, and that $35k is gone into the property for good. On a variable loan there's no wrong choice, only the one that fits how you run your world.
Redraw versus offset, in one paragraph
Redraw is money paid into the loan that you can take back out. Offset is a separate account sitting next to the loan that cuts your interest the same way, but the money never technically goes into the mortgage. Same interest saving, different plumbing, and the plumbing matters if the property ever becomes an investment. The full comparison is on the offset, redraw or savings page.
The honest bit: available doesn't always mean instant
Most banks let you redraw online in a day or two, but some have minimums, some charge a fee on fixed loans, and a couple can reduce the available amount without much notice if the loan is in arrears. It's your money in the sense that you paid it, but it's still sitting inside a bank product with the bank's rules around it.
If the redraw is your shit-hits-the-fan money, that's a good reason to look at whether an offset suits you better. That's a two minute conversation, not a lecture.
Want to know what your loan would look like after a switch?
A 30 minute call. I take your balance, your available amount and your repayment, and show you both versions of the new loan: keep the redraw, or let it go. Numbers per month and per week.
No cost to you. The bank pays me when a loan settles. ยท How I get paid
Next question
Should I combine my home loans into one, or keep them separate?The next question people ask once they understand what's sitting in the loan.
Related answers
Do repayments auto-adjust after an RBA cut? Offset, redraw or savings account: where should my money sit? Can I use redraw on my investment loan?Not your question? Book a call and ask it, or call 0437 189 939.