Veterinary clinics property finance

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. We are specialists in helping business owners secure finance to purchase their own property, and we understand the complex structures that often sit around it, including multiple trusts, holding companies and self-managed super funds. Buying a clinic is rarely the last move, so it goes to lenders who understand veterinary property and read a well-run practice on its merits. When a second site, a fit-out or a new partner comes into view, the team is still alongside you well beyond settlement. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Owner-occupier LVRs of 75% to 80% are achievable where a lender recognises veterinarians as a profession, the same way it treats doctors and dentists, and some will fund up to 100% on the clinic alone without taking your home. A lender that treats the clinic as standard commercial usually wants 30% or more. Inside an SMSF, lenders cap at 65% to 75%. The right lender is the main lever, so talk to us.

Yes. A clinic that also boards animals or runs after-hours is treated as a mixed-use property, and a valuer assesses the clinical and boarding parts on different bases. Boarding and emergency use can also raise zoning and compliance questions that a consult-only clinic never faces, and lenders price that uncertainty in. We present the clinical, boarding and after-hours components together so the lender sees one working hospital rather than a set of rooms that are hard to value.

It can, significantly. Veterinary premises often sit on commercial, light-industrial, rural or agricultural zoning rather than a standard retail or office title, and each one changes how a lender views the security and its resale. Rural and large-parcel sites can cap the LVR and shorten the list of lenders willing to consider them. We confirm the zoning and permitted use before we lodge, so the valuation does not come back short of what you were expecting.

Valuers separate the general-practice clinical space from specialised and mixed-use areas. Purpose-built theatres, imaging and in-house pathology rooms are valued conservatively because they are single-use and hard to transfer, while a boarding kennel or cattery is assessed as its own income stream. The result is often a value below the total build cost, which is why the deposit and LVR need to be planned around the valuation rather than the contract price. We flag this early so there are no surprises at the valuation stage.

In most cases, yes, though the equipment is usually funded separately from the property loan. Surgical tables, anaesthesia machines, X-ray and ultrasound units, in-house lab analysers and dental equipment are typically financed through a chattel mortgage or equipment finance, which keeps depreciating kit off the property security. A clinical fit-out and hospitalisation build can sometimes be capitalised into the property loan instead. We map which route costs less over the life of the loan for your particular clinic.

For a straightforward owner-occupier purchase, most clients receive indicative terms within 48 hours of our first conversation, with formal approval usually following in one to two weeks. A full purchase to settlement generally runs about three to six weeks with a major bank, and often two to four weeks with a non-bank lender. Rural zoning, a boarding component or a trust or SMSF structure add time because there is more for the lender to assess. We give you a realistic timeline upfront so your purchase schedule stays intact.

Owner-occupier finance is used when your own practice occupies the clinic, and lenders assess your practice income and trading history alongside the property, offering up to 75% to 80% where they recognise vets. Investment finance is used when you buy a clinic to lease to another veterinary practice, and the lender focuses on the rent, the lease term and the strength of the tenant. Investment LVRs are typically lower, usually 65% to 75%, and a short lease or a vacancy can be harder to fund. Which one applies changes both the LVR and the way your application is presented.

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate purchases in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. The fund borrows under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, so the clinic sits in a separate holding trust and the lender can only come after that one property. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property: a clinic trading from the whole of the premises generally qualifies. A clinic with a residence attached generally does not, and the two-hectare dwelling exception does not rescue it, because that exception applies only to primary production and a veterinary practice is not primary production. It is a common reason a vet clinic does not qualify. Your practice leases the clinic back from the fund, in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. SMSF lending caps well below a standard purchase, so the fund provides its own deposit and the full-price funding available outside super does not apply here. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super either. Lenders cap SMSF lending below a standard purchase, generally between 65% and 75%, and want cash left in the fund after settlement. We know this sounds complicated. It is, and that is exactly why we do it every day. Reach out to our team and we will guide you through the entire process. We structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take a veterinary clinic as SMSF security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own. Get that right and it is a solid, compliant structure.

Yes, and most clinics are bought this way. A discretionary or unit trust with a corporate trustee, or a company, separates the property from business risk and makes it easier to bring partners in or out. The lender underwrites the entity, the deed and every guarantor together, and usually wants all-in guarantees tested for standalone servicing. We present the structure and the income flowing through it clearly, so the lender is comfortable and the approval is clean.

Often, yes. A decline usually means the deal did not fit that one lender's credit policy, not that it cannot be funded. A common reason is that the bank does not recognise vets as a profession, or is not comfortable with the zoning or a boarding component, all of which another lender may view differently. We give you an honest assessment of what is realistic before proceeding, and we place the deal with a lender whose appetite actually fits it.

For a full-doc application, most lenders want two to three years of practice financial statements and tax returns, personal tax returns for all guarantors, and the contract of sale or expression of interest. If you are buying through a trust, partnership or company, the relevant deed or constitution and its financials are also needed. Many vets are self-employed or bill through a service entity and do not fit a standard full-doc assessment, so non-bank alt-doc and low-doc options let you evidence income through an accountant's declaration, BAS statements or bank statements instead. These come with slightly higher rates but open the door where your paperwork understates what you earn, and we work through your income situation upfront to identify the best approach.

Most of the time, no. We are paid a commission by the lender once your loan settles, so there is no cost to you. Where your financials are complex, your structure is unusual, or the purchase requires significant preparation before it can go to a lender, we may charge a small mandate fee depending on the complexity. We will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your veterinary clinic or hospital premises are located, we can arrange your finance.

Although our main speciality is property loans for business owners, we also assist with veterinary equipment finance and cash flow for vet clinics. On asset finance, that covers veterinary equipment such as surgical tables, anaesthesia machines, X-ray and ultrasound units, in-house lab analysers, dental units and practice vehicles. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to cover drugs and consumables, wages, and after-hours staffing.

Yes. That is our core ethos, helping you understand the right strategy, structure and clear advice from the very first conversation. Our main borrower profiles are established vets and clinic owners seeking finance from $100,000 upwards for their company, so a first commercial loan is well within our wheelhouse. Smaller sole-trader and consumer-style ABN lending sits outside our field.