Mixed-Use Property Loans

Mixed-use property sits in a structural gap for mainstream banks. A single title with a ground-floor commercial tenancy and residential apartments above does not fit neatly into either a commercial mortgage or a residential mortgage product. Banks resolve that tension by applying whichever framework creates the most restriction, typically treating the whole asset as commercial (lower LVR, higher rate, tighter policy) or declining on the basis that the residential component triggers consumer lending obligations. Private lenders assess the asset holistically. The whole property is the security. The LVR is applied to the whole valuation. The assessment is commercial.

Who This Is For

• •Pty Ltd companies purchasing mixed-use assets as investments or for partial owner-occupier use of the commercial component
• •Discretionary and unit family trusts acquiring mixed-use property for blended yield from commercial and residential tenancies
• •SMSFs purchasing mixed-use assets where the commercial component qualifies as business real property
• •Investors seeking mixed-use assets in inner urban areas where commercial and residential uses are integrated
• •Not available to natural persons borrowing in their personal name
• •Not available for pure residential purchases or any NCCP-regulated consumer credit

How Mixed-Use Property Is Assessed

Our in-house valuers assess mixed-use assets as a single security. The valuation reflects the combined commercial and residential components based on current market evidence. The LVR is applied to the whole security value. We do not split the asset into components and apply different LVRs to each. The property is assessed as what it is.

The borrower must be a Pty Ltd company, family trust, or SMSF. The loan is structured as a business-purpose commercial facility. Borrowers who want to occupy the residential component personally should seek independent legal and financial advice about how that interacts with the business-purpose nature of the lending.

Submit your scenario with the property address, mix of uses, purchase price, and entity type. Same-day indicative response. Settlement from 24 to 72 hours for clean deals.

Three Mixed-Use Property Scenarios We Have Recently Helped

A family trust identified a classic inner-Sydney shop-top property: ground-floor retail tenanted by a cafe on a 3-year lease, two residential apartments above leased separately. Total purchase price $2.8 million. The bank applied a commercial rate and LVR to the whole asset and the numbers didn't stack. We assessed on the combined security value at 65% LVR. Loan: $1.82 million, first mortgage.

A Pty Ltd company wanted to acquire a mixed-use strata building in Melbourne's inner north: ground-floor professional office suite (for the company's own use) and a one-bedroom apartment on the level above (held as investment). Two strata lots under one purchase. The bank could not fit the combined purchase into a single product. We assessed both lots as a combined security and structured a single facility. Loan: $1.35 million, 68% LVR.

An SMSF trustee company was acquiring a ground-floor commercial tenancy in a mixed-use building in a suburban high street. The commercial component qualified as business real property for the member's retail business. The LRBA applied to the commercial lot only. Settlement was required in 21 days due to a competing offer. Loan: $680,000, settled within 48 hours.

Speed and Process Advantage

Mixed-use assets often sit in limbo at banks for weeks before a decline. We assess the whole property in a single credit process. In-house valuers, direct credit authority, no committee. An indicative position comes the same day we receive a complete enquiry. For mixed-use deals that are time-sensitive (auction, competing offer, vendor deadline), that speed is what converts the opportunity.

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