CostMost lenders count only a portion of rental income — commonly in the 50% to 80% range depending on the lender and program — toward your qualifying income, treating the rest as a buffer for vacancy and expenses. This offset approach is different from treating rental income the same as employment income.
How the offset typically works
Rather than counting 100% of a property's rental income the way they'd count salary, most lenders apply a discount — commonly counting somewhere between 50% and 80% of gross or documented rental income toward your qualifying income, or alternatively netting rental income against the specific property's own mortgage payment (only counting the positive difference, if any). The exact method and percentage varies meaningfully by lender and by whether the rental is an existing, documented property or a new purchase being qualified on anticipated rent.
A worked example
$2,400/mo rental income, 50% offset lender
| Gross monthly rental income | $2,400 |
| Percentage counted toward qualifying income | 50% |
| Amount actually added to your qualifying income | $1,200/mo |
That's a meaningfully smaller boost to your qualifying income than the full rent would suggest — worth knowing before you assume a specific rental income will unlock a specific purchase price. Check your combined qualifying picture on the affordability calculator.
Why the treatment varies by lender
Lenders that specialize in investor and multi-property borrowers sometimes offer more favourable rental income treatment than a typical retail bank branch would — one more reason working with a mortgage broker who knows which lenders are more generous with rental income can materially change your approved amount for the exact same property and income situation. If you're relying heavily on rental income to qualify, also see our note on the 2026 rental-property lending change, which specifically affects borrowers whose income is mostly rental-based.