Refinance your hospitality 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 hospitality refinance the work is in reading the revenue mix, because the valuation follows the trade and the mix decides which lenders will write it at all. We present it properly, take it to the ones whose appetite fits your venue type, 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 venue freehold you want repriced or several sites you would rather hold under one structure. The new limit is set by the current going concern valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because your bank can only tell you what your bank will do, and hospitality appetite differs sharply between institutions and between venue types. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which are genuinely writing your venue type 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 after those costs we will tell you that.

Between 50% and 65% of value. Hospitality is specialised security rather than standard commercial, so it gears lower than a shop or a warehouse. The figure follows a current going concern valuation, which is driven by the trade rather than by the building.

Three to six months gives you room to choose rather than react. A commercial facility is written to a term and then falls due, unlike a home loan that simply runs, and hospitality terms are commonly about 15 years so the date comes around sooner than owners expect. Starting early also lets the valuation land after your strongest trading period.

It changes a great deal. Lenders underwrite the split between beverage, food, gaming and accommodation rather than the venue in the abstract, and a valuer capitalises the earnings that mix produces. Where food or accommodation now carries more of the revenue than it did at settlement, that is a genuinely different file, and it often opens lenders that were not available to you at purchase. We set the mix out clearly rather than leaving it to be inferred.

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 refurbishment, a kitchen rebuild, a courtyard, a cool room or the deposit on the next site are all ordinary purposes. We evidence them with quotes and a timeline, which is a stronger case than an open-ended limit.

Often not. A decline on a top up is one lender applying one policy on one day, and it is not a view the whole market shares. Hospitality is written by a narrower group than standard commercial, but that group has genuinely different appetites by venue type, loan size and how each reads an operator record. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file where that reason is not the deciding one.

Then we work with the position as it is rather than the one you hoped for. If the balance now sits above the new lender maximum, a partial repayment at settlement can bring it into range. Where a single difficult year sits in the accounts we present the underlying trade alongside it, normalised for one-off costs, and alt-doc assessment is available with several lenders. We tell you which of these applies before any application is lodged.

Often yes, and it is one of the more useful things a refinance does at a venue. The caution is that not everything belongs on the freehold. A commercial kitchen or a laundry sits better on asset finance against the equipment, because the term should match its working life, and a seasonal working capital facility is there to flex rather than to be amortised. 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 going concern valuation on a licensed or accommodation property takes longer to commission than a standard commercial one, and SMSF refinances and multi-site 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, recent BAS and monthly trading figures, the liquor licence and any gaming entitlement detail, occupancy and tariff figures where there is accommodation, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, and a statement of assets and liabilities. We work through the list with you at the start rather than asking for things one at a time.

Each application creates a credit enquiry that stays on your file, and several in a short period can affect how the next lender reads you. That is why we assess your position first and present to one lender at a time rather than shopping the file around. It is the same reason we ask for the documents up front.

The costs are a going concern 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, calculated on the day and driven by 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 venue trading wholly as a business qualifies, though a motel with an owner residence on the same title generally does not. 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. Your operating company leases the venue 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. Reassign the holding trust to the incoming lender on the same single property, 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 hospitality freehold 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 venue is located, we can arrange your finance.

Beyond refinancing the freehold, we also assist with asset finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers commercial kitchen equipment, cool rooms, commercial laundry, audio visual and room furniture and fittings. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to carry stock and wages through the quiet weeks and to bridge a refurbishment, 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 you get on with the trade. 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 venue is likely to value at on the trade it does now, 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.