Funding a Family Business Handover Against Trust-Held St Ives Property

When a family business moves from one generation to the next, the handover gets to a point where somebody has to actually pay somebody else, and the money has to come from somewhere while the business is still running, so a lot of these end up funded against a property the family trust already owns rather than out of the trading company.

Key facts for St Ives (2075), 12 months to September 2026

• Median five-bedroom house: $3.888 million. Four-bedroom: $3.1 million. Three-bedroom: $2.1 million.
• Median three-bedroom apartment: $1.63 million. Two-bedroom: $962,500. One-bedroom: $630,000.
• Houses take 56 to 91 days to sell; units 45 to 99 days.
• Auction clearance: 42% to 55% across property types.
• 17,295 residents, 85% owner-occupiers, 64% family households.

Can a trust borrow against its property to fund a business handover?

Yes, because buying out a retiring shareholder or funding a transfer of a business between family members is a business purpose, and that's what we lend for. We'll go to 75% of value on residential security, counting any existing bank loan and ours together, and we write $500,000 to $7.5 million as a second mortgage or $1 million to $20 million as a first, over 6 to 36 months.

The structure itself isn't the hurdle people expect it to be, and how a company or trust borrows against property it already owns sits outside consumer credit precisely because the purpose is a business one. The borrower will usually be the trustee company for the trust that owns the property, and the structure gets read properly, so we'll want the deed, the trustee company extract and a clear picture of who ends up owning what.

A worked St Ives example

Say a family trust owns a five-bedroom St Ives investment house worth about $3.888 million with $900,000 owing to a bank, and the next generation needs $1.4 million to buy out a retiring parent's shareholding in the family business.

At 59.2% there's about $616,000 of room before the cap, so the facility can survive a valuation well under the median, and the existing bank loan stays where it is rather than being refinanced in the middle of everything else that's moving.

Why these transactions get funded this way

The awkward part of a succession is that the price gets agreed long before anyone works out how it's paid, and the obvious sources all have problems, because the trading company often can't release that much cash without hurting the business, a bank wants to see the new ownership trading before it lends against it, and vendor finance leaves a retiring parent exposed to a business they no longer control.

Borrowing against property the family already owns gets around most of that, since the security is there today and doesn't depend on how the business trades in its first year under new ownership. The exit is then a refinance once the new structure has enough history for a bank to look at properly, or a sale of an asset the family was going to sell anyway, and if neither is real the honest answer from us is no.

How long would it take to sell in St Ives?

Between 56 and 91 days on Domain's figures, which is slower than most of the upper north shore, with clearance running 42% to 55% and units no quicker at 45 to 99 days. Sydney house values fell 3.3% in the June 2026 quarter and a record 29.3% of auctions were withdrawn, so in a market clearing at 42% a twelve to eighteen month term with a six month minimum is the honest structure if the exit is a sale.

What actually settles here

Nothing settled against a St Ives property in the 90 days to August 2026, and nothing anywhere on the upper north shore, though five settled across northern Sydney, one each in Neutral Bay and Willoughby East, two in Ryde and one in Frenchs Forest, from $250,000 to $3.28 million, being two business investments, a refinance, a purchase and a construction line.

The two nearest were both in Ryde, a $1,631,250 first at 75% against a house for a purchase and a $1,225,000 first at 72.06% against a townhouse to refinance. Nationally there were 196, 82% secured by residential property at a median loan of $765,500, split 115 firsts and 81 seconds, and business investment accounted for 26, which is the line most succession funding gets recorded under.

What Vía Private lends on

What we will not do

We don't do consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act, so if the security is a home someone lives in and the money is personal, we're not the right lender. We don't fund construction or development, and we don't lend against vacant land or pre-DA sites. Beyond that, we won't lend without a credible exit, and we won't lend against a valuation we haven't tested ourselves.

Questions people ask

Can a family trust borrow to fund a business buyout? Yes. Vía Private lends to trusts with a corporate trustee for business and investment purposes, and acquiring a business or a shareholding is one of them, secured by a first or second mortgage over completed property.

Does the family business have to show trading history? Not in the way a bank requires. Short-term property-secured lending is assessed mainly on the security and the exit, which is why it suits a transaction where the new ownership has not yet traded under its own accounts.

Can we keep the existing bank loan in place? Yes. A second mortgage sits behind the existing first mortgage and leaves it untouched, with the combined debt of both loans kept inside 75% of the property's value.

How long does it take to sell a house in St Ives? Between 56 and 91 days on Domain data for the 12 months to September 2026, with auction clearance between 42% and 55%. Plan a term around three months of campaign rather than six weeks.

What happens if we cannot repay at the end of the term? The facility is extended or refinanced and interest keeps accruing on a larger balance, which is why the exit matters more than anything else in the assessment. Ask for the rollover fee and the default margin before you sign rather than after.

Getting a St Ives scenario looked at

Most of the scenarios we see come through accredited mortgage brokers, so if you're already working with one, send them this page and they can put it to us. If you'd rather come to us first, email begin@viaprivate.com.au with the property, the amount you need, what it's for and how you plan to repay it.

Nearby: Pymble · Wahroonga · Killara · Roseville · Castlecrag

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Figures are indicative and for illustration only. Median values are Domain suburb data for the 12 months to September 2026. Market commentary is from the Domain House Price Report, June quarter 2026. Settlement counts are from a private lending panel covering 196 mortgages funded nationally in the 90 days to August 2026. Transfer duty is calculated at Revenue NSW 2026-27 rates. Vía Private lends to companies, trusts and SMSFs for business and investment purposes only and does not provide consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act. This page is general information and does not take your objectives or circumstances into account. Last reviewed 13 September 2026.