The tiny outback Queensland town of Quilpie is not the destination you would associate with first time home buyers.
But for 27-year-old Mary McNair from Brisbane, it's the only place she wants to be.
The barista moved to the remote town a year ago with plans to settle down, but hit a roadblock when she tried to buy a home.
"We had a lot of trouble with the banks," Ms McNair, who runs a coffee stand, said.
"They either didn't loan for property out here or they required such a hefty deposit you may as well be paying for the whole thing yourself."
It took Ms McNair several months and multiple mortgage brokers before she was able to secure a loan with a 30 per cent deposit.
"It was just impossible," she said.
"We would get to the end of an application and [a bank] would just say they don't lend to postcodes out here."
'Unfair and short-sighted'
Residents across western Queensland claim the banks are either flatly denying loans based on their remote location or requiring deposits of up to 50 per cent.
The big four banks — Commonwealth, National Australia Bank, ANZ and Westpac — said there was no postcode ban on finance, and they actively lend to buyers in the outback.
But Quilpie Shire Council chief executive Justin Hancock said that was simply not the case and has called on the banks to update their lending criteria.
"We have locals who have secure employment and strong salaries, who have been rejected for loans due to a completely outdated set of lending criteria," Mr Hancock said.
"They have been told if they were applying for a loan in another region, they would be approved for more than double they were asking in the outback.
"It's unfair and short-sighted."
Last year, the council launched a home builders grant in a bid to solve the region's housing crisis.
The scheme is underwritten by the council and allows anyone who purchases a block of land in the shire to have up to $12,500 reimbursed when they build and live in the house for a minimum of six months.
There's been some interest in the scheme, but Mr Hancock said many young families want to buy already built homes.
"There's a lot of different hurdles that the banks are putting up and if we don't find a way to lend money to residents to buy houses, we're going to see houses become vacant and people move on," Mr Hancock said.
"You're going to see these small towns die-off."
Comparison site Compare The Market's William Jolly said banks are becoming more conservative with lending in rural areas.
"Infrastructure development, job prospects, climate risks, insurance premiums — all of these things can make it much harder for a bank to see a lot of potential value in a property in the future," he said.
"Banks tend to look at the resale value of these properties and if there is worsening job prospects or a higher climate risk, they can see that as a problem."
'Every barrier possible'
Mechanic Rob Warner in nearby Thargomindah said he came up against "every barrier possible" when trying to buy his local roadhouse.
"When we approached the big four and the brokers, as soon as we put the postcode in, they pretty much said everything changes and no," he said.
The situation was so dire, Mr Warner had to ask the roadhouse's seller to guarantee him the loan to get it approved.
"We were lucky that we knew the seller, but it's postcode discrimination," he said.
"It's a disincentive for anyone to move to the outback. If people need a 40 per cent deposit no one is going to do it."
