Secured business loans against Australian property
A secured business loan is backed by real property, so the lender assesses the security and the exit rather than the borrower's cash flow. That is why it works when an unsecured lender has declined: no serviceability test, no financial statements, and an amount set by equity rather than turnover. HomeSec funds secured loans only, from $20,000 to $5,000,000.
See if you qualify in sixty seconds. No credit check to apply, no financials, no payments for the first six months. That's the HomeSec Advantage.
See if you qualifyWhat a secured business loan is, and what secures it here
The government's own guidance puts it plainest: a secured loan is backed by collateral or security — something of value you own — and if the loan is not repaid, the lender can take that security to cover its losses. business.gov.au gives property and business inventory as its two examples.
HomeSec takes one of those and only one: Australian real property. Not stock, not equipment, not an invoice ledger. That single choice produces every other feature of the loan. The amount is set by the equity rather than by last year's turnover, which is why the range is $20,000 to $5,000,000 rather than a facility sized to a bank statement. There is no serviceability test and no financial statements, because what is being assessed is the property and the exit. And it can settle in as little as 24 hours from a clean, complete scenario, because a lender reading a title does not have to wait for an accountant.
How much deposit do you need for a secured business loan
None. A deposit is what a lender asks for when it is funding a purchase and wants the borrower to carry part of the risk in cash. A business loan secured against property you already own does not work that way: the equity in the property is already doing the job a deposit would do, so there is nothing to find up front and nothing to save towards.
What takes the deposit's place is the loan-to-value ratio. Up to 80% of a residential property's value, or 70% of a commercial one, counting everything already owing against it. The gap between that ceiling and the existing debt is what is available. If a bank has told you it wants a contribution before it will lend to the business, that is usually a serviceability conversation wearing different clothes.
The paperwork list, and how little of it applies
business.gov.au tells a business owner to get their paperwork ready before applying, and sets out what a lender may want to see: proof of identification, a business plan, financial reports including cash flow statements, financial forecasts, lease agreements and personal financial information. That is a fair description of a bank's secured loan, and it is worth reading before walking into one.
On a property-secured file here, most of that list does not arise. We ask who you are, what the property is, what is already owing on it, what the money is for and how the loan gets repaid. No business plan, no forecasts, no financial statements, no sworn valuation — we instruct a local agent for a market appraisal instead, and it comes back the same day. The reason is not generosity. It is that none of those documents tells us anything the title and the exit do not.
Secured by residential property, and secured by commercial
The most common file on this desk is a business loan secured by residential property — the director's own home, or an investment unit, usually with a bank's first mortgage already registered on it. Up to 80% of value, less what the bank is owed, and the bank's loan is left exactly as it was.
A secured commercial loan — a warehouse, a shop, a yard, the premises the business trades from — is the same loan at a lower ceiling: 70% of value rather than 80%. That gap is not a judgement about the owner. Commercial property takes longer to sell and its value moves with its tenant, so the margin a lender holds against it is wider. Rural holdings and vacant land are assessed further down again, on the merits of the particular parcel rather than by a rule.
Six reasons an unsecured lender says no that have no bearing here
An unsecured lender is betting on your cash flow, so cash flow is what they examine — bank statements, turnover, the shape of the last twelve months. That is quick and painless when the numbers are tidy. When they are not, there is nothing else in the file for the lender to look at, and the answer is no with no way to argue.
A secured lender is looking at something else entirely: the property, the purpose and the exit. Six of the most common reasons an unsecured application fails have no bearing on that assessment at all.
- A poor credit score. A number that summarises the past and says nothing about the equity in a property or the contract that repays the loan.
- An unpaid tax debt. Often the reason for the application in the first place, which makes it a strange thing to decline for.
- A short trading history. A business that started this year has no history to score. That is a gap in their model, not a risk in your file.
- Irregular or seasonal income. A builder, a farmer and a tour operator all fail a monthly-average test and none of them is in trouble.
- An industry on a list. Construction and hospitality get declined by category, before anybody reads the file.
- An amount that is simply too large. Unsecured facilities have a ceiling that has nothing to do with what you are worth.
A person decides every loan. Every application is read by a Lending Manager and every credit decision is signed off by a person. We do not use artificial intelligence to assess, approve, decline or price a loan. An algorithm cannot see why the last two years look the way they do. A person can, and that is the whole reason files we write are ones a scorecard would have rejected.
What you give up, stated plainly
Security is not free, and a page that only lists the advantages is not much use for making a decision.
- Your property is on the line. A caveat or a mortgage is registered against the title. If the loan is not repaid, the lender can act on that security. This is the whole trade and it should be the first thing you weigh, not a footnote.
- Settlement involves lawyers. You sign in front of one, which adds a step and a cost that unsecured lending does not have — and which exists so that somebody acting for you has explained the documents to you.
- The amount is capped by equity, not ambition. 80% of value on residential security and 70% on commercial, counting what is already owed. If the equity is not there, no amount of trading performance replaces it.
- It is business credit. Credit provided for those purposes is not regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (the NCCP Act), and the protections available to consumer borrowers do not apply.
What can be security
Australian real property that you or your company owns: residential, commercial, or vacant land. It does not need to be unencumbered — a first mortgage is normal, and we lend behind one either by caveat or by registered second mortgage. It does not need to be the property the money is being used for, and it does not need a sworn valuation; we instruct a local agent for a market appraisal, which comes back the same day.
What cannot be security: vehicles, plant and equipment, stock, invoices or a personal guarantee on its own. Those are other lenders' products and, when they suit better, we will say so.
A business loan against property — the arithmetic
Every secured loan here comes down to one calculation. Take the property's value, multiply by 80% for residential or 70% for commercial, subtract what is already owing on it, and what remains is roughly what is available, between $20,000 and $5,000,000. More than one property can be added together.
| Security | Value | Existing loan | Ceiling | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home, bank first mortgage | $950,000 | $520,000 | 80% — $760,000 | $240,000 |
| Home, owned outright | $1,300,000 | — | 80% — $1,040,000 | $1,040,000 |
| Investment unit + home | $620,000 + $950,000 | $380,000 + $520,000 | 80% each | $356,000 |
| Warehouse, bank first mortgage | $2,000,000 | $800,000 | 70% — $1,400,000 | $600,000 |
| Vacant land, owned outright | $450,000 | — | Lower — assessed | On merit |
Indicative only. Value is our own assessment of the security.
Secured and unsecured, side by side
| Unsecured cashflow loan | Secured by property (HomeSec) | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Set by turnover; commonly $10k–$150k | Set by equity; $20,000 to $5,000,000 |
| Assessed on | Bank statements, turnover, credit score | The property and the exit |
| Repayments | Daily or weekly direct debit | None for 6 months |
| Term | Fixed, commonly 3–12 months | Open — you choose |
| Cost | Priced for the absence of security | Priced against the security — generally well below unsecured |
| Trading history | Commonly 6–12 months | None required |
| If you own property | The more expensive option, for a smaller amount | The cheaper option, for a larger amount |
Unsecured-lender characteristics are general category observations, September 2026. Individual lenders vary. The full comparison has the longer table, and secured versus unsecured is the longer argument — including the part about personal guarantees that most borrowers get wrong.
Equity release for business, without touching the home loan
The most common secured file is the simplest: a good bank loan on the house, and a business that needs a sum the bank will not release in time or at all. A second mortgage sits behind the bank and releases the equity above its loan; the bank's rate, term and structure stay exactly as they were. Where the property is owned outright, a first mortgage does the same more cheaply. Where the date will not wait for the bank's consent, a caveat needs nobody's.
How fast a secured business loan is, from the call to the money
Tell us the deal
Amount, purpose, timing, the property and how the loan gets repaid. A Lending Manager gives you an indicative answer on that call — usually in minutes.
Minutes
Conditional approval
Photo ID, a rates notice and your most recent mortgage statement. That is the whole list, and it takes about fifteen minutes.
About 15 minutes
Funds released
As little as 24 hours from a clean, complete scenario. Paid where you tell us — to your account, or straight to the ATO.
As little as 24 hours
What it costs
Priced per file, on the property, the position, the amount and the exit. No rate is published, because a rate with "from" in front of it is the best file's number. How it is priced, and every fee that exists.
The three ways we take security
- A caveat. Lodged on the title without the first mortgagee's consent, which removes the one step nobody can control and is why a file can settle in a day. How a caveat loan works.
- A registered second mortgage. Behind an existing first. It does need the first mortgagee's consent, so it takes longer, and it suits a larger or longer facility. Second mortgage business loans.
- A first mortgage. Where the property is unencumbered or we are refinancing what is there.
Check the lender before you sign anything
This is business.gov.au's own advice and it is worth following. Before you apply, search the lender's name or ABN on the ASIC register and satisfy yourself it is a real company. And treat any unsolicited offer of a loan you never applied for as a scam, because legitimate lenders do not make them.
Do it to us. HomeSec Business Finance Pty Ltd, ABN 50 150 013 513, ACN 150 013 513, registered as an Australian private company with its business location in Victoria. The register is public and it takes a minute. A lender reluctant to be looked up is telling you something.
Questions we get on the phone
What is a secured business loan?
Can I get a business loan against my property?
What is equity release for a business?
Secured or unsecured — which is better for a business?
Which properties can be security?
Does the property have to be in the business's name?
What does 'no serviceability test' mean?
Is an asset-backed business loan the same thing?
How fast is a secured loan?
How much deposit do I need for a business loan?
What is the monthly payment on a secured business loan?
Can I get a secured business loan with bad credit?
It sometimes is not. If there is no property, or the equity is thin, or the amount is small enough that an unsecured cash flow facility is simpler, that is the better answer and we will tell you so on the call rather than run an application. We would rather be the lender you come back to than the one that took a fee. 1300 93 83 87, Mon–Fri, 8:30am – 5:30pm Melbourne time.
See if you qualify in sixty seconds
Three short questions, no credit check to apply and no financial statements. A Lending Manager reads it and calls you back with a real answer — not a call centre, not an algorithm.
That's the HomeSec Advantage.
Reviewed by Jason Brockmuller, Joint Chief Executive