Refinance your SMSF commercial property

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 fund refinance the balance cannot move, so the work is entirely in the term, the repayment type and which of the remaining lenders will take the property. We run that comparison, arrange the finance, and work alongside the licensed advisers who look after the fund side. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We refinance commercial facilities from $50K up to $30M. Inside super the limit is a different question, because a fund refinance is confined to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest. Where the wider position includes facilities held outside the fund, we look at those alongside it.

Because on a fund property your current bank may not be in the market at all. The majors have left SMSF lending, and the lenders still writing it are a smaller group with genuinely different positions on term, repayment type and what the fund must hold after settlement. We run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which of them will take your fund property, and present to one at a time so the file does not collect an enquiry for every conversation.

Generally 65% to 80% on standard commercial security inside super. In practice the LVR rarely binds on a refinance, because the loan is confined to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest and that balance has usually amortised well below the ceiling.

No. Section 67A(1)(a) sets out what borrowed money may be applied to and the list is exhaustive, and a fund cannot borrow against an asset it already owns. So a fund refinance carries no top up, no redraw and no cash out, whatever the property has revalued to. Lenders say the same thing in their own terms. Know it early, because it is the rule that most often surprises a trustee who has refinanced property outside super.

Borrowed money can be applied to repairing and maintaining the asset, which is inside the exhaustive list. It cannot be applied to improving it. That line between a repair and an improvement is one your fund advisers will draw on the facts, and it matters, because works funded the wrong way put the arrangement itself at risk. We arrange the finance and tell you what a lender will and will not fund; the characterisation is theirs to confirm.

Nothing happens to it on its own. It runs on its existing terms, and that is the point: the lender is unlikely to write you a new facility or vary the old one, so there is no one to ask when the term is up or the structure no longer suits. The practical answer is to move it to a lender still active in the market, and we establish who that is before anything is lodged.

No. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super, so each property sits in its own holding trust under its own borrowing arrangement, with the lender recourse confined to that one asset. Two properties mean two facilities. They can sit with the same lender where that suits, which is not the same thing as one loan, and we set out both options.

From that date a new borrowing arrangement over real property can only be used for business real property. A fund that already holds commercial premises holds exactly that, and a refinance stays confined to the same single property in any case. Where you are considering a further acquisition it is the first question to settle, and it is one for your fund advisers on the facts of the property.

It is one of the first things an incoming lender asks for. The lease has to be in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Where an arrangement has drifted informally over the years, that is worth putting back in order before the file goes anywhere, and it is usually a matter of documentation rather than a barrier.

Longer than a standard commercial refinance. Reassigning the holding trust adds a legal step and a set of documents, and the fund deed, the trust deed and the lease all have to be reviewed alongside the usual credit assessment. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so the expiry date can be planned around it.

The existing loan statements, the fund trust deed and the holding trust deed, the most recent fund financial statements and member statements, the lease over the property and evidence the rent has been paid, the rates notice, and personal financial information for the guarantors. We work through the list with you and with your accountant at the start rather than asking for things one at a time.

The costs are a valuation, legal and settlement fees, the cost of reassigning the holding trust to the incoming lender, any lender establishment fee, discharge costs from your current lender, and break costs where you are leaving a fixed rate. The holding trust step is the one that makes a fund refinance cost more than an ordinary one, so 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 commercial property used wholly in a business qualifies. 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 a related company occupies the property it leases it 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, so a second fund property needs its own arrangement. SMSF lending on standard commercial security generally runs between 65% and 80%, 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 arrange the finance, tell you which lenders will take your fund property 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.

Yes, and on a fund refinance it is the normal way we run the file. The deeds, the lease and the fund financials all come from that side, and the questions a lender raises are usually best answered there. We coordinate it rather than sending you back and forth, and the advice on the fund itself stays with the licensed advisers who give it.

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 the fund property is located, we can arrange your finance.

A borrowing arrangement funds a single asset, so the business, the goodwill, the fitout and the plant are financed outside the fund. That is where we do the rest of the work: commercial property finance held in your own name or a company, business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding, and asset finance over vehicles, plant and equipment. We look at both sides together, because the same people stand behind them.

Yes, and it describes most trustees we speak to. The facility is set up at settlement, the fund pays it down quietly, and nobody looks at it again until the term is up or the lender stops answering the question. 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 sits on the current facility, which lenders are still writing SMSF security, what moving costs once the holding trust step is counted, and whether it is worth making. If it is not, we will say so and you can stay where you are.