Lane 5 of 7
Commercial and business lending
Borrowing secured by commercial property, or for the business itself, where the assessment is about the business rather than a household budget.
You are in this lane if
- You are buying or refinancing a commercial premises
- You need working capital, equipment or a business acquisition facility
- The borrower is a company or trust, not an individual
You are not, if
- You want to buy a house through a company for tax reasons — that is a structuring question for your accountant first
What actually decides the outcome
In order. Getting these settled first is the difference between a useful conversation and three weeks of email.
- What is the security, and who leases it? Owner-occupied commercial and tenanted investment commercial are assessed differently, and lease term and tenant quality drive the valuation.
- What loan-to-value ratio is realistic? Commercial security typically supports a lower ratio than residential, and specialised property supports less again.
- Is the facility amortising, or does it have a balloon? Many commercial terms are shorter than the amortisation period, which means a refinance event is built into the deal from day one.
- Who is giving guarantees? Directors' guarantees and cross-collateralised personal property are normal here and change your personal risk position.
Have this ready
Assembled before you start, not chased afterwards.
- Two to three years of financial statements for every entity involved
- Current lease agreements and a rent roll if the property is tenanted
- Trust deed or company constitution and ASIC extract
- A written purpose and repayment plan for the facility
Where people get caught
- Expecting consumer protections to apply. Most commercial lending sits outside the National Credit Code.
- Underestimating the cost of the valuation, which the borrower usually pays regardless of the outcome.
- Signing a personal guarantee without reading what it covers and for how long.
The official source
These set the rule. Anyone describing it to you — including this page — is a summary, and summaries go stale.
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission — business
- business.gov.au — Finance for your business
Structure of this page reviewed 17 August 2026. Follow the links for the current position.
How your income changes this lane
Not your lane after all?
General information. General information about how Australian lending is organised. Rules, thresholds and eligibility are set by government agencies and change; each lane links to the source so you can check the current position. It does not take your own circumstances into account.