April 13, 2026 Medical & Allied Health

What Goes Into a Medical Centre Commercial Mortgage

Buying the premises your medical centre or GP clinic already runs from is a defining step for any practice owner. At Ardent Capital Group we speak with doctors and practice principals about this kind of commercial property purchase, so this guide walks through how a lender reads a clinic freehold and what actually shapes the finance.

Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for medical centre and GP clinic operators across Australia. Our team can help you move from tenant to owner, and give you clear lending advice on structure and strategy.

Finance arranged from $100,000 to $10,000,000+, tailored to practice size and cash flow.
Over $500,000,000 in funding facilitated across a decade for more than 1,000 borrowers.
Coverage across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and surrounding regional towns.
Access to major banks, non-banks and specialist healthcare lenders.

Reasons to own your premises

A fit-for-purpose clinic is expensive to build, and it is sticky by design. Consulting rooms, procedure rooms, sterilisation, medical gases (where used), disability access compliance, IT and telephony, acoustic treatment, vaccine fridges and cold-chain safeguards, storage, and reception workflow represent material sunk cost. Location matters to patient continuity. Parking, co-location with pharmacy and pathology, public transport access and established catchment patterns tie your patient base to the address.

Healthcare demand is resilient. Bulk billing, mixed billing and private billing models each produce consistent activity driven by Medicare and everyday primary care needs. When repayments are directed to an owned freehold, you build equity in a core business asset while reducing exposure to landlord decisions.

Main drivers:

Control of fit-out and layout that suits your model, without refit risk at lease end.
Rent replaced by repayments that build equity in the freehold over time.
Ability to set a commercial rent between the property entity and the trading entity.
Long-term security for doctors, staff, patients and co-tenants such as pharmacy or pathology.

Buying may not suit every practice. A short remaining lease with an expected relocation, a planned move to larger premises, tight capital where equipment or recruitment would produce a better return, or uncertainty around billing model changes are valid reasons to pause. The decision sits with you.

How the finance works for a medical centre

Deposit and LVR: Standard commercial premises gear to around 80 per cent, so a deposit near 20 per cent. Recognised medical professionals buying as owner-occupiers can go further: specialist healthcare lenders such as BOQ Specialist and Medfin fund up to 100 per cent of the purchase price on the clinic property alone, without taking your home or other property as additional security. LVR is measured against the lender's valuation, not the price.
Loan term and structure: Terms commonly run from around 15 years with a bank to 25 or 30 years with a non-bank lender. Structures include principal and interest for steady amortisation, or interest only for a period to preserve cash flow during fit-out or growth. We align the repayment profile with billing cycles and seasonality.
Security and serviceability: The property is the primary security. Lenders assess practice financials and stability. Expect a review of accountant-prepared financials, BAS, Medicare item billings, doctor contractor agreements, and occupancy costs. Debt service coverage, existing commitments and proposed rent between entities are tested.
Owner-occupier treatment: Lenders usually view owner-occupied medical freehold favourably due to essential service use, low vacancy risk and strong covenant when the trading practice is profitable.

How the purchase is usually structured

Many medical centre and GP clinic owners hold the freehold in a separate entity, then lease it to the trading practice at a commercial rent. A lender reads that inter-entity rent as part of the serviceability line, so the arrangement a borrower already uses shapes how the finance is assessed. Common set-ups include a company or discretionary trust holding the property with a formal lease to the practice entity, which can support asset protection and let multiple principals share ownership outside the trading risk. Ardent Capital Group arranges the finance around whichever ownership set-up the practice already uses, and your accountant confirms which entity suits the principals before settlement.

Buying through an SMSF: Commercial premises generally qualify as business real property, so an SMSF can acquire the building through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement and lease it back to the practice at market rent. Expect lower LVRs, more documentation, longer timelines and personal guarantees. We arrange the commercial finance for an SMSF purchase of the clinic premises, while your accountant and SMSF specialist confirm the tax position, the super rules and the ownership set-up before contracts exchange.

What underwriters focus on

Business financials and billing profile, including Medicare item volumes, mixed vs bulk billing ratios and doctor contractor agreements.
Serviceability, with debt service coverage tested against historic profitability and realistic add-backs, plus sensitivity to interest rate movements.
The property and valuation, including zoning for medical use, compliance, parking, building condition, fit-out quality and any allied health or retail co-tenancies.
Deposit and equity position, including cash, equity in other property and any vendor terms.
Lease and occupancy, including the related-party lease terms for owner-occupiers or third-party leases for investment purchases.
Experience and continuity, including principal tenure, GP recruitment and patient catchment stability.

A specialist broker matters for medical centres because lender appetites, policy exceptions and documentation for healthcare vary in ways a generalist may miss.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario that shows the kind of situation we can assist with, and how the thinking might run.

Profile: Two GP principals in Brisbane on a mixed-billing model, a $3,200,000 strata medical suite identified, current rent $220,000 per annum, and a planned $550,000 fit-out including a procedure room and sterilisation.
Equity position: One principal holds residential equity of $600,000; the practice holds retained earnings of $350,000 available for part of the deposit and fit-out.
Option 1, standard owner-occupier mortgage: Around 75 per cent LVR on the purchase, principal and interest over 20 years, cash covering the deposit and fit-out, with interest only for 12 months during the build; illustrative total exposure near $2,400,000 upon settlement.
Option 2, specialist healthcare lender: As recognised GP owner-occupiers, the principals could fund the purchase through a specialist medical lender on the clinic property alone, preserving the residential equity and retained earnings for the fit-out and recruitment.
Option 3, SMSF acquisition: The SMSF buys the suite at a lower LVR, the practice signs a market lease, and surplus cash stays in the trading entity, accepting the longer timeline and higher setup costs.
How we would approach it: We would model the repayments, cash-flow impact and doctor earnings under each option, including how to leverage your equity for deposit support, then map the ranges and structures. The decision stays with the principals, and the figures above are illustrative, not confirmed outcomes.

Beyond the mortgage: medical centre finance

Asset finance for medical equipment: Fund autoclaves, ultrasound, ECG and spirometry units, point-of-care pathology devices and compliant vaccine fridges, with medical centre equipment finance that keeps depreciating kit off your property security.
Fit-out and refurbishment finance: Spread the cost of consulting rooms, procedure rooms, medical gases, acoustic treatment and reception upgrades over a sensible term.
Working capital: Manage Medicare remittance timing, doctor contractor payments and seasonal demand with working capital for a medical centre aligned to billing cycles.
Business overdraft: Smooth daily cash flow for consumables, staffing and minor equipment without touching term facilities.
Refinancing and debt consolidation: Reset rates and terms, consolidate equipment and fit-out facilities, and release equity from the freehold for practice growth.
Construction and renovation: Finance extensions, room reconfiguration, disability access works and compliance upgrades while keeping the clinic operating.
Business or premises acquisition: Buy in or buy out a partner, acquire a second site, or secure a pharmacy or allied tenancy to anchor the centre.

These facilities can work together. Owning the premises can free equity for reinvestment, while a refinance can consolidate multiple facilities into a cleaner structure.

Working with a medical centre finance specialist

Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for medical centre and GP clinic operators. We arrange and structure the finance around how you intend to hold the freehold and how your practice will occupy it.

We service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and surrounding metro and regional areas. We have helped facilitate over $500,000,000 in funding over a decade for more than 1,000 borrowers.

If you are considering a purchase, talk to us. Structure and strategy matter as much as the rate, and our medical centre property loan specialists build the finance around your situation, with clear advice and no pressure.

Common questions

How much deposit do I need to buy a medical centre freehold? Typical deposits sit around 20 per cent for standard commercial premises, and can be lower for recognised medical owner-occupiers using a specialist healthcare lender. The exact figure depends on the valuation and serviceability.

Can my SMSF buy the building and lease it to my clinic? Yes. Commercial premises generally qualify as business real property and can be leased back at market rent. Expect lower LVRs, longer timelines and more documentation under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement.

Is fit-out included in the commercial mortgage or funded separately? Many lenders fund the property under a term loan and the clinical fit-out under a separate facility aligned to its useful life, sometimes with an interest-only period during works.

How do lenders treat contractor GPs and mixed billing? They review the mix of bulk billing and private fees, doctor service agreements, retention history and item billing reports to test recurring income and coverage for repayments.

What documents should I prepare for credit assessment? Accountant financials, BAS, Medicare item summaries, aged debtors and creditors, personal asset and liability statements for principals, the draft related-party lease, and any third-party lease heads of agreement.

What changes if I buy as an investment rather than as an owner-occupier? Assessment leans more heavily on the lease covenant, term and yield. Owner-occupier purchases often receive more favourable treatment on pricing or LVR due to lower vacancy risk.

Written by

Nick Chong

Managing Director, M.AppFin, Dip. Mortgage Mgmt

Nick holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, a Master of Applied Finance and an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. He founded Ardent Capital in 2016 after more than a decade in financial planning and mortgage broking. For the past ten years he has led a team of finance specialists, mortgage advisers, brokers and credit analysts, all working to secure optimal outcomes for clients and always acting in their best interests. The team brings both a qualitative and a quantitative approach to every deal.