Can a Company or Trust Borrow Against Property in Australia?

Yes. A company or a trust can borrow against property in Australia for a business or investment purpose. These are non-consumer loans, so they sit outside the consumer credit rules, and the directors or trustees usually give personal guarantees.

This is Vía Private's home ground. Most lender content explains personal home loans. Almost none explains how a company or trust actually borrows. Here is the plain version.

Who is the borrower when a company or trust borrows?

The borrowing entity is the company or the trustee, not you personally. But the people behind it, the directors or the trustee and often the beneficiaries, normally sign personal guarantees, so they stand behind the loan.

For a trust, the trustee borrows on behalf of the trust, and the lender reads the trust deed to confirm it is allowed to. For a company, the company borrows and its directors guarantee. The guarantee is what gives the lender recourse to real people.

Why are these loans treated differently from home loans?

Because they are not consumer loans. When a company or trust borrows for business or investment, the loan is not regulated by the consumer credit rules that cover owner-occupier home loans, so it is assessed differently.

That is not a loophole, it is the category. It means the assessment focuses on the security, the exit and the purpose, rather than a consumer serviceability test. It also means a business-purpose declaration is required, confirming the funds are for business or investment, not personal use.

Company or trust loan vs personal home loan:

• Borrower: company or trustee vs an individual
• Regulation: non-consumer vs consumer credit rules apply
• Focus: security, exit, purpose vs personal serviceability
• Guarantees: directors or trustee vs the borrower
• Purpose: business or investment vs owner-occupier

What does a lender need from a company or trust?

Company or trust searches, the trust deed if there is a trust, director and guarantor identification, the security details, a written purpose and a clear exit. Get these in early and the deal moves quickly.

The trust deed matters more than people expect. It confirms the trustee has the power to borrow and grant security. If a corporate trustee is involved, the lender checks that too. None of this is hard, but it is the part that slows a deal when it arrives late.

What can a company or trust use the loan for?

Any genuine business or investment purpose: buying a commercial property, funding working capital, releasing equity for the business, or bridging between a purchase and a sale. Not personal or owner-occupier use.

The purpose drives the structure. A purchase is usually a first mortgage. An equity release behind an existing bank loan is usually a second mortgage. A short-term need with a sale or refinance coming is usually bridging.

Broker takeaway

If your client holds property in a company or trust and needs funds for the business, this is exactly the kind of deal Vía funds. Send the entity type, the security and the purpose, and we will tell you what we need and whether it fits.

Vía Private is an Australian non-bank private credit lender providing property-secured commercial loans to companies and trusts for business and investment purposes across NSW, VIC, QLD and the ACT. We do not lend to consumers. All lending is subject to credit approval and valuation. General information only, not financial or credit advice.