Commercial property finance, built around the project.
Buying premises, refinancing what you hold, or funding a build. Property lending is assessed differently to everything else a business borrows, and the gap between lenders is wider than most people expect.
Bloc has access to over 70 lenders. The right one depends on the property, the tenancy and the structure as much as it depends on you.
Funding we can arrange.
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Buying and refinancing
Owner-occupied commercial premises
Commercial investment property, single asset or portfolio
Refinancing an existing facility onto better terms
Releasing equity from property you already hold
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Building and developing
Construction finance drawn in stages against progress
Development finance assessed on total development cost
Land acquisition ahead of a build
Residual stock facilities once a project completes
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Structures
SMSF lending for commercial and business premises
Trust and company borrowing structures
Untangling cross-secured lending across multiple assets
What property backers come to us for.
Three situations we see constantly. Different circumstances, same underlying problem: the property gets assessed in isolation and the person behind it gets left out.
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The outgrower
You’ve paid rent on the same premises for years and the lease is up again. Buying it would change the economics of the business, and nobody has ever walked you through whether it’s actually possible.
Rent is the one cost that never builds anything.
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The investor
Commercial property as an asset rather than a workplace. Yield, tenancy, lease terms and weighted average lease expiry all drive the lending as much as your own position does, and lenders differ enormously on what they’ll accept.
The property is half the assessment. We make sure the other half is presented properly.
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The developer
A site, a plan, and a funding gap between the two. Lenders assess the project, the builder and the presales alongside the borrower, and the wrong lender can cost you the whole timeline.
The right lender for a development isn’t always the one that holds your other lending.
We know which lender’s to ask, and why.
We have access to over 70 lenders. On commercial property the spread between them is wider than on any other kind of lending. One will fund a specialised asset and one only wants standard commercial. One takes a short lease in its stride and one won’t look at it. One has a view on your postcode and one doesn’t.
Before anything goes anywhere, we work out what you’re buying, how it will be used, how it’s held and what has to be true for a lender to back it. Then we put the application together in the language their credit team reads, and take it to the lenders we know can support that kind of asset.
A career inside business banks means knowing what a credit team will ask before they ask it.
How your deal moves with Bloc.
No mystery, no chasing. You'll always know where you stand and what's next.
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01 · The conversation
What you’re buying or building, how it will be held, and what’s already in place. Usually an hour.
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02 · The honest read
What the likely contribution and terms look like, what the valuation will need to support, and which lenders are realistic for this asset.
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03 · The submission
The application, the numbers and the project detail, written the way credit reads them and sent to the lender most likely to back this specific property.
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04 · After settlement
A structure review each year. Property lending runs long, and the facility that suits the asset today won’t necessarily suit it in three years.
The property jargon, said plainly.
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What proportion of the property’s value you’re borrowing. Commercial sits lower than residential, and owner-occupied premises are often treated more favourably than investment property.
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Whether rental income comfortably covers the interest on what's owed, after taking out other costs of owning the property.
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How long the tenancies have left to run, weighted by income. It drives how a lender sees an investment property.
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The lender’s assessment of what the property is worth, which can differ from the purchase price and often sets the deal.
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Everything a project costs, including land, construction, fees and interest. Lenders size the facility against it.
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Sales contracted before construction finishes. Lenders often require a minimum level before funding a development.
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Each stage release on a construction facility, paid after that stage is completed and verified.
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The structure used when a self-managed super fund borrows to buy property. The lender’s recourse is limited to that asset.
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Using one asset as security for more than one loan. Straightforward initially but can be tricky to unwind.
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Finance against completed but unsold stock at the end of a development.
Questions we’re often asked.
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Commercial lending generally needs a larger contribution than residential. The right figure depends on the property type, its location and the tenancy, and owner-occupied premises are usually treated more favourably than investment property. We’ll give you a realistic number early rather than an optimistic one.
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A purchase typically runs four to eight weeks, depending on how quickly the valuation comes back and the financials come together. Construction and development take longer, because the lender assesses the project as well as you.
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Yes, commercial and business premises can be held in a self-managed super fund using a limited recourse borrowing arrangement. It’s a structure rather than a product, so the right approach depends on what’s being purchased and how the fund is set up. Your accountant or adviser needs to be part of that conversation.
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The facility is drawn in stages as the build progresses, with each stage released once it’s completed and verified. Lenders assess total development cost, the builder, and in many cases a minimum level of presales before they’ll fund.
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For business and commercial lending there's a fee for us to get started and a second one once a lender puts a formal offer in front of you. Commercial deals can take weeks of work with lenders before they confirm whether they'll support the request, and charging for that work is what lets us dedicate the required time to you.
You'll know both numbers and what they cover before we begin. No surprises at the end.
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For commercial work, yes. It's a short engagement letter covering what we're doing for you, what it costs, and what we'll each need from the other.
It also asks that you work with us alone on that deal for an agreed period. Your commitment to our process means you’ll have our full attention while we work through your lending options.
We'll walk you through it before you sign anything, and we'd encourage you to have your accountant or solicitor take a look.
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Often, yes. A decline tells you how one lender reads a property, not whether it’s fundable. Lenders differ considerably on asset type, location, tenancy and borrower structure, and the useful question is what specifically they couldn’t get past.
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No, and it's worth knowing. Home loans sit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, which requires a loan to be not unsuitable for you and comes with consumer protections attached. Most commercial and business lending sits outside that regime, with fewer statutory protections and more room for lenders to price and structure as they see fit.
That isn't a loophole and it isn't a shortcut, it's a different regulatory environment. We'll always tell you which one your deal sits in and what it means for you. Our standards don't change with the regime.
Let's build something big.
Start with a conversation. Tell us what you're buying or building and we'll tell you where you stand.