Warehouse Property Loans

A loan for this property class covers the full spectrum of storage and logistics property: distribution centres, logistics hubs, cold storage facilities, e-commerce fulfilment centres, bulk storage warehouses, and warehouse strata units. I write finance across all of these sub-types, and each one has different lender appetite. In practice, tier-1 logistics corridor properties with national tenants attract the strongest competition and the best rates. By contrast, specialised facilities like cold storage or pharma-grade warehouses have a narrower lender pool because of alternative-use considerations.

For broader categories across our commercial property finance offering, including manufacturing facilities, factories, and freight handling, see our industrial property loans page. We write warehouse mortgages across all of these property types from $500k to $100m+.

Yes, but the structure is different. Vacant warehouses don't have an income stream for the lender to underwrite against, so the application leans on alternative serviceability evidence. The three approaches I see most often are:

• A forward-leasing strategy with credible tenant interest and timing.
• An owner-occupier business case where you're moving your own operations into the warehouse.
• A stronger borrower position (lower LVR, larger deposit, or proven property portfolio) to compensate for the absence of in-place income.

Major banks have limited appetite for vacant warehouses without one of those structures. Non-bank specialist lenders and private capital are more flexible. The right path depends on your specific scenario, so book a free consultation to talk through your deal.

Not necessarily, but the structure shifts. Established businesses with two to three years of trading history get the strongest treatment because lenders can underwrite serviceability against actual cash flow. However, first-time owner-occupier buyers typically face slightly tighter LVRs and need to provide a defensible business plan with forward forecasts.

If you're buying as an owner-occupier and your business is still in start-up phase, the application becomes a hybrid: part property finance, part business case. Several lenders I work with will write these deals when the business plan stacks up and the property is well-located. Whether you're buying as an owner-occupier running operations from the warehouse, or as an investor leasing to a tenant, the lender pool and treatment shifts.

Warehouse LVRs typically sit at 60% - 80%, depending on deal type and your borrower position. Within that range, lender appetite varies by property sub-type:

• Distribution centres with national tenants: up to 75-80%
• Standard warehouses: up to 70-75%
• Logistics hubs: up to 70%
• Warehouse strata units: 65% investor / 70% owner-occupier
• Cold storage facilities: typically capped at 65%
• Vacant warehouses: 50-60% with specialist lenders

Owner-occupiers consistently access 5-10% higher LVRs than investors on equivalent properties. Within these bands, several factors push LVR up or down:

• Tenant covenant strength: national or established mid-tier tenants lift LVR.
• WALE remaining: 5+ years remaining at settlement is rewarded.
• Borrower position: established businesses or experienced investors compete for higher LVRs.
• Alternative use potential: properties with broad alternative use rate higher than highly specialised assets.

Whether you're buying as an owner-occupier or as an investor shifts the lender pool too. Get in touch to talk through your specific deal.

Yes, but the structure depends heavily on the lender and the type of work. Major banks generally have limited appetite for capex within a standard acquisition facility, preferring fit-out work to be funded separately or staged after settlement. Specialist non-bank lenders are more flexible, often structuring capex within the main facility through staged drawdowns tied to project milestones.

Private capital is the most flexible on this. I've structured deals with bespoke staging that funds the purchase, the immediate fit-out costs, and a working capital tranche for ongoing business operations. Outside the property loan, our business loans range can fund complementary needs: equipment finance for racking, forklifts, and fit-out fixtures, and working capital loans for operational ramp-up after settlement.

Yes. Major banks typically cap interest-only at three years, non-bank specialist lenders extend up to five years, and private capital can sometimes structure full-term interest-only. Cashflow protection during the early ownership period is the main reason buyers structure this way, especially when fit-out, business ramp-up, or a vacancy gap between settlement and tenant moving in is planned.

The trade-off is higher overall interest cost across the loan term. Our commercial property loan types page covers different structures available across the product range.

Headline rent is the figure on the marketing material. Net effective rent, by contrast, is what's left after lenders strip out incentives, fit-out contributions, escalation timing, and outgoings recovery shortfalls.

In practice, the gap between vendor-quoted headline rent and lender-normalised net effective rent can easily be 20% to 30%. A warehouse showing $400,000 in headline rent might normalise to $270,000 once those adjustments are factored in. As a result, that difference directly affects how much you can borrow and at what rate, because lenders calculate serviceability on the normalised figure, not the headline.

The way the numbers are presented matters as much as the numbers themselves. I work through the lease terms with you, prepare a defensible normalisation, and submit both views side by side so the lender's serviceability calculation runs on the right figure. Our commercial property cash flow calculator lets you stress-test scenarios before submission.

For investor warehouse purchases, tenant covenant strength and WALE remaining are the two most important factors after the property itself. Lenders look at:

• The tenant's financial strength (national 3PL operator vs single-tenant business).
• WALE remaining at settlement (not when the lease was signed, which is a common point of confusion).
• The lease structure (assignment clauses, options, escalation method).
• Past payment history if available.

In practice, strong covenants with 5+ years WALE remaining attract the best terms across the lender pool. By contrast, weaker covenants or short-WALE properties don't disqualify the deal but narrow the lender pool to specialists who price the additional risk into the rate or LVR. The detail is worked through during the deal structuring conversation; get in touch to discuss your specific tenant.

Warehouse finance is generally faster than aged care or hotel finance because there's less regulatory verification involved. Typically, realistic timeframes vary by lender:

• Major banks: 6 to 10 weeks.
• Non-bank specialist lenders: 4 to 6 weeks.
• Private capital: 2 to 3 weeks.

The biggest accelerators are clean documentation, a complete Environmental Phase 1 report ready at submission, and an existing relationship with one or more lenders I already know are writing your deal type. However, the biggest delays come from environmental remediation issues, body corporate documentation gaps on strata purchases, and valuation lead times for specialised facilities. State environmental authorities like the NSW EPA publish contaminated land guidance that's worth reviewing for due diligence on industrial sites. The detailed step-by-step is in the how to apply section above.

A warehouse property loan application typically requires two sets of documents. On the property side, you'll need the sale contract, the lease agreement and tenant covenant details (for investor purchases), strata or body corporate documentation if applicable, an Environmental Phase 1 report, and a recent specialist property valuation. On the borrower side, lenders want to see a personal financial statement, two years of personal tax returns, existing entity financials if you have other operations, and either a forward business plan (for owner-occupier deals) or a property portfolio summary (for investor deals).

The exact list varies by deal type and lender. I provide a tailored documentation checklist once we've had an initial conversation about your specific deal; book a free consultation to get started.