SPECIALIST LENDING
Specialist loans for complex income and property finance
Business income, variable pay or buying through a trust can change how a lender assesses your application. We review your income, ownership arrangements and property plans to identify lending options worth considering.
SPECIALIST LOAN OPTIONS
Find The Lending Help Your Situation Calls For
Start with the option closest to your needs. If your circumstances span several categories, we can consider them together.
Business income
01
Self-Employed Home Loans
Buying or refinancing with income from your own business? We review trading history, financial records and how lenders assess the income available for your repayments.
Variable and mixed income
02
Complex Income Loans
Bonuses, commission, overtime or several income sources can affect your borrowing assessment. We check what evidence lenders need and how much of each income source they may accept.
Borrowing through super
03
SMSF Loans
Discuss finance for eligible business real property or refinancing an existing SMSF loan. We check the fund's borrowing arrangements, property eligibility and lender requirements.
Property ownership
04
Trust & Company Loans
Buying or refinancing through a trust or company? We review the proposed borrower, ownership documents and lender requirements for directors, trustees and any personal guarantees.
Buying before selling
05
Bridging Loans
Check whether you can fund your next purchase before selling your current property, with the combined debt, interest costs and expected sale proceeds considered together.
Business and investment premises
06
Commercial Property Loans
Buy or refinance premises for your business or a commercial investment. We review the property, lease or business cash flow, deposit and proposed repayment terms.
Who we help
The declines we see most often
Select a situation — the panel shows what usually blocks it and how we place it.
01 Self-employed
Two years of returns is not the only path
Company structures, retained profits, trust distributions and a recent year of growth all confuse a standard assessment. We know which lenders read financials properly and which just want the notice of assessment.
Self-employed lending →Why it gets declined
- —Only one full year of trading figures
- —Profit retained in the company, not drawn as salary
- —Add-backs ignored by a bank credit team
How we place it
- —Alt-doc lenders accepting BAS or an accountant declaration
- —Add-backs argued with the financials attached
- —One-year-returns policy where trading history supports it
02 SMSF borrowers
SMSF borrowing is limited to business real property
From 10 August 2026, a new limited recourse borrowing arrangement generally has to be for business real property. An ordinary residential investment will not qualify. Some existing loans and earlier contracts are treated differently. Your SMSF adviser should confirm which rules apply before you proceed.
SMSF lending →Why it gets declined
- —Major banks no longer write SMSF loans
- —Liquidity and contribution tests applied strictly
- —Bare trust documentation prepared incorrectly
How we place it
- —Nine specialist funders accredited for LRBA
- —Structure reviewed against the deed before submission
- —Residential and commercial security both placed
03 Trust & company
Ownership structure narrows the lender list sharply
Discretionary trusts, unit trusts and company borrowers are perfectly bankable — but only about a third of the panel writes them, and their pricing differs by more than a rate sheet suggests.
Trust lending →Why it gets declined
- —Corporate trustee structures declined outright by some lenders
- —Director guarantees required across every entity
- —Distributions treated as unreliable income
How we place it
- —Lenders ranked by trust and company appetite
- —Guarantee exposure limited where policy allows
- —Distribution history evidenced across three years
04 Bridging & timing
You found the next place before selling this one
Bridging exposes you to two loans at once, so the peak debt figure and the exit are the whole conversation. We only recommend it when the sale is realistic and the fallback is costed.
Bridging finance →Why it gets declined
- —Two loans running simultaneously
- —Peak debt calculated on optimistic sale figures
- —No agreed end date on the bridge
How we place it
- —Peak debt modelled on a conservative sale price
- —Interest capitalised so cash flow is not squeezed
- —Written fallback if the sale runs past the bridge
Why Lending Institute
Complex files need a different broker
Most brokers place vanilla residential loans and refer anything unusual on. We keep them.
Specialist files placed
312in the last three years
01
We read the credit policy, not the rate sheet
Specialist lending is decided on policy detail — how a lender treats retained profits, whether a corporate trustee is acceptable, what liquidity an SMSF must retain. We track those rules across the panel and check them before we submit.
02
The file is built for the assessor
A complex file presented well is often approved where the same file, submitted raw, is declined. Financials, structure diagrams and a written explanation go in with the application, not after a query.
03
We tell you early when the answer is no
If your file will not place at a sensible rate, you will hear that in the first conversation rather than after three weeks and a credit enquiry. That honesty costs us applications and keeps our approval rate where it is.
04
Accreditation across the specialist panel
SMSF, commercial, bridging, alt-doc and credit-impaired funders each require separate accreditation and volume to maintain. We hold and use all of them.
How it works
Understand → Compare → Apply → Settle
01
Day 0
Tell us the whole story
Including the decline, the credit event or the structure you think is a problem. Nothing is placed until we understand it.
Credit impact — none
02
Days 1–10
Structure and match
Financials reviewed, the entity structure confirmed, and the file matched to funders whose policy it genuinely fits.
Credit impact — soft enquiry only
03
Weeks 2–3
Submit with the argument attached
The application goes in with financials, add-back workings and a written explanation for the assessor.
Credit impact — enquiry recorded
04
Weeks 4–8
Settle
Specialist files run longer. We manage valuations, legal review of trust deeds and the settlement booking.
Credit impact — account reported
Lender choice
Verified, licensed, accountable
Major banks, second tier, non-banks and specialist funders. Accreditation is verified annually — we only recommend lenders we can actually submit to.
9
Specialist funders
SMSF, commercial, bridging and credit-impaired.
18
Non-banks
Alt-doc appetite and faster assessment.
6
SMSF-active lenders
Currently writing limited recourse borrowing.
11
Trust-friendly
Accepting corporate trustee and unit trust borrowers.
Some of the lenders we work with
Options vary by loan type
Bendigo Bank
ING
Macquarie
St.George
ANZ
MA Money
The panel does not include every lender in Australia. Approval depends on your circumstances and the lender’s criteria.
Common questions
Before you choose a lending option
The documents you have, the property, and how you intend to borrow all matter. These answers cover common starting points.
Ask a broker →No. You may qualify with tax returns and financial statements. If those are not available, some lenders accept business activity statements or business bank statements. Alternative documents still have to show income and the ability to repay.
Yes. We start with the reason for the decline and the information already supplied. Another lender may assess it differently, or more evidence may be needed. We will say whether another application is worth making. Approval still depends on that lender’s requirements.
That decision needs advice on tax, legal responsibility and ownership. Talk to your accountant and solicitor before you commit. We assess the lending requirements for the structure you propose, including documents and any guarantees.
New borrowing through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement is subject to rules from 10 August 2026. The property must qualify as business real property, so an ordinary residential investment generally will not. Some existing loans and binding contracts from before that date are treated differently. Your SMSF adviser should check which rules apply.
Interest and holding costs can keep building, and the loan still has to be repaid on its terms. An extension or refinance is not guaranteed. Before we recommend bridging, we look at a slower sale or a lower price and what that does to the debt and the repayments.
Costs depend on the loan, the lender, the property and the documents. They can include lender fees, valuation and legal expenses. A broker fee applies in some cases, and we explain it before you proceed. The recommendation includes the rate, the fees and the repayment terms.
Get started
Tell us the situation. We will tell you what is possible
Including the decline, the structure or the credit event. Nothing here touches your credit file.
Honest first
If it will not place, we say so in the first call.
No credit enquiry
Nothing touches your file until you instruct us.
312 files
Specialist loans placed in the last three years.