Refinance your childcare centre property loan

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. On a childcare refinance the work is in presenting the operation, because the valuation is capitalised off occupancy, places and fee income and those are now yours rather than the vendor's. We put them the way a credit team reads them, take the file to the lenders still active in the sector, and stay with it past drawdown. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We refinance commercial facilities from $50K up to $30M, whether that is a single centre you want repriced or several you would rather hold under one structure. The new limit is set by the current capitalisation of income valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because your bank can only tell you what your bank will do, and childcare is written by a much narrower group than standard commercial. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which are genuinely writing childcare at your loan size and occupancy right now, and present to one at a time so your credit file does not collect an enquiry for every conversation. We also model the break costs, valuation and legals against what moving actually gains you, and if it does not stack up we will tell you that.

Owner-operator files gear to 60% to 65% of the current value, and investment centres to 55% to 65% depending on the lease and the operator covenant. The figure follows a fresh capitalisation of income valuation rather than the price you paid.

It is usually the largest thing that has moved. A childcare centre is capitalised on the income it produces, so occupancy feeds straight into the valuation. At purchase the lender was reading the vendor enrolment figures and pricing a handover it had not seen you complete. With two or three years of your own occupancy behind you, the valuer is capitalising income you have actually produced, and that frequently supports a different number.

It affects how the file reads rather than setting a formula. Lenders active in childcare look at the rating alongside occupancy and place count, because a strong assessment supports enrolment and enrolment is what the valuation capitalises. Where a rating has improved since you took the centre on, that is worth presenting rather than leaving in the file to be found.

Yes, where the current valuation supports it. Cash out on a commercial refinance is assessed on the purpose of the funds, so the lender wants to know what it is for. A room fitout, a playground upgrade, a compliance works program or the deposit on a second centre are all ordinary purposes. We evidence them with quotes and a timeline, which is a stronger case than an open-ended limit.

Most lenders active in childcare want occupancy of at least 65% to 75% on an owner-operator file, and higher again on investment lending. Some will look below that where the operator has a track record and a credible path to improvement. It is one of the first things we establish, because it decides which lenders are worth approaching at all.

Usually shortly after a lease renewal or an exercised option, while the term remaining is at its longest. On a tenanted centre the lease drives the loan term and supports the approval, and the term left runs down every year you hold it. That timing is something you control, so we plan around it rather than lodging whenever the rate looks interesting.

Often not. A decline on a top up is one lender applying one policy on one day, and childcare appetite in particular varies more between institutions than almost any other asset class. The lenders that specialise in the sector have their own criteria on occupancy, place count and operator quality. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file where that reason is not the deciding one.

Often yes, and it is one of the more useful things a refinance does. The caution is that not everything belongs on the centre. Equipment and playground finance sits better on its own term, matched to the working life of what it bought, and a facility that bridges wages between fee cycles should keep revolving. We map what belongs where and consolidate what genuinely benefits from long-term property security.

Four to six weeks from application to settlement for a straightforward file. A capitalised income valuation takes longer to commission than a standard commercial one, and SMSF refinances and portfolio consolidations take longer again. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so you can plan the expiry date around it.

The existing loan statements, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns for the operating entity, monthly occupancy and enrolment figures, the fee schedule, the service approval and place count, the most recent ACECQA assessment, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, and a statement of assets and liabilities. For an investment centre we also need the lease and the rental statements.

The costs are a valuation, legal and settlement fees, any lender establishment fee, discharge costs from your current lender, and break costs where you are leaving a fixed rate. Break costs are an economic cost, so they are calculated on the day and vary with how much fixed term is left. We put the real numbers against the benefit before you commit to anything.

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate refinances in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property, and a centre operating wholly as a business qualifies, whether your company runs it or a tenant operator does. It has to stay the same single property, and it is limited to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest, so there is no top up, no redraw and no cash out inside the fund. The holding trust is reassigned to the incoming lender rather than dissolved, which carries a legal cost worth weighing against the gain. Where your own company operates the centre it leases it back in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super. Childcare is specialised security, so SMSF lending on it generally runs between 65% and 75%, the major banks have exited SMSF lending, and lenders want a liquidity buffer left in the fund after settlement. We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. 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 childcare centre 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.

Most of the time, no. Where a refinance requires significant preparation due to its complexity, a small mandate fee may apply, and 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 centre is located, we can arrange your finance.

Beyond refinancing the centre, we also assist with asset finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers playground and outdoor equipment, commercial kitchen and laundry equipment, furniture and educational fitout, security and access systems, and centre vehicles. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to carry wages between fee cycles and to bridge a fitout, and we can fold these into the refinance where it makes sense.

Yes, and it describes a great many operators we speak to. The purchase facility is set up at settlement and then simply runs, while the occupancy that decides the valuation quietly improves underneath it. 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 business owners and commercial property investors with facilities from $50,000 upwards. We will start by telling you what the centre is likely to value at on your own occupancy, what sits on your current facility, what moving costs, and whether it is worth making. If it is not, we will say so and you can stay where you are.