How Do Australian Lenders Finance Farm Stays and Glamping Businesses?
Accommodation Finance
Farm stay · Glamping · Agritourism finance
A farm stay, glamping site or eco-lodge often needs more than one type of finance. This guide explains how Australian lenders assess the land, planning approval, farm and guest income, movable tents and fixed cabins, valuation risks, working capital and the order to arrange funding before you commit.
Quick Answer
A farm stay, glamping site or eco-lodge is usually assessed as rural land with an accommodation business on it, and the funding is often split. The land may sit on a rural or commercial property loan, fixed cabins may need construction finance, movable tents or pods may use equipment finance, and the first quiet season may need separate working capital.
Not sure where you fit? Start with which loan funds which part, then the order to do things in before you spend.
Also called: farmstay, farm stay accommodation, agritourism accommodation, host farm, glamping site, eco-lodge. "Host farm" is Victoria's planning label for the same use; "glamping" and "eco-lodge" describe the product, not a planning category.
Is a farm stay lent against as a farm, a commercial property or an accommodation business?
Most lenders start from the land: a farm stay is read as a rural property with an accommodation business attached, and the question is how much of the loan rests on each. The answer shapes which lenders will look at the deal, how the valuer approaches the property, and whose income has to carry the repayments.
Does a bank treat farmland as residential or commercial?
For APRA-regulated banks, land used mainly for farming is a commercial property exposure, not a residential one. Under APRA's capital standard APS 112, a residential exposure is one secured mainly by a dwelling, and everything else outside construction lending sits in the commercial class; the standard speaks directly of commercial property used predominantly for agricultural purposes. That framework governs how APRA-regulated banks hold capital, and non-bank lenders sit outside it.
When does a farm stay's accommodation become the main business?
A farm stay's accommodation tends to become the main business when the guest income is larger than the farm income, or when the land is no longer farmed commercially. At that point a lender typically reads the property as an accommodation asset rather than a farm, and the valuation approach and the panel of lenders willing to look at it change with it. That shift is one reason why specialised property lends lower than a plain rural holding.
How is a farm stay loan different from a bed and breakfast loan?
A farm stay is lent against as a farm with guests on it, while a bed and breakfast run from your home is usually lent against as the home, with the guest income treated as a supplement.
| Type of stay | What the security usually is | Whose income usually carries the loan | Planning question to settle first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm stay on a working farm | The farm: land, fixed improvements and the house | The farm business first; the accommodation once it has a trading record | Whether it fits your scheme's farm stay, host farm or short term accommodation definition |
| Glamping site on farmland | The land; tents and pods often sit outside it as goods | The farm or other income until the site has a trading record | Whether camping or moveable dwellings are permitted, and on what conditions |
| Eco-lodge on bushland | The land and fixed lodge buildings, valued for what any covenant or overlay allows | The lodge's own trading records | Tourist accommodation approval, bushfire requirements and any covenant on title |
| Bed and breakfast in the owner's home | The home, often assessed as residential | The owners' income, with the guest income as a supplement | Home-based business or bed and breakfast approval |
| Cabins in a caravan or holiday park | The park as a going concern | The park's trading figures | Caravan park or tourist park approval |
Sources: APRA, APS 112, Attachment A, effective 1 July 2025. NSW Department of Planning, Setting up an agritourism business, September 2023. Victoria Planning Provisions clause 73.03. Queensland Government, Supporting agritourism through planning schemes. All read 25 September 2026. The table shows the usual treatment; each lender and valuer takes its own view.
How much will a lender advance against a farm stay?
Expect a lower maximum advance against a farm stay than against a plain rural holding or a home, because the lender weighs the specialised accommodation use and the smaller pool of buyers if the property ever has to be sold. The exact figure depends on the lender, the asset type and the location, covered in how much lenders advance by asset type.
How much deposit do you need for a farm stay or glamping property?
There is no single Australian farm stay deposit percentage. Your cash requirement is the gap between the purchase or project cost and the amount the lender is willing to advance against the security value it accepts, and that accepted value may exclude movable tents, unapproved cabins or business goodwill. A lower valuation therefore increases the cash you need even when the purchase price has not changed.
Why might one lender decline a farm stay that another will consider?
Lenders differ in how much specialised rural and tourism security they will take, how they treat a short trading record and whether they count tourism income at all, so a decline from one lender is not a decline from every lender. Before applying again, identify the actual reason: a security decline, a servicing decline, a planning or approval problem, and a valuation shortfall are four different problems. A different lender may help where the first lender simply does not accept that type of rural or specialised security; changing lenders does not fix an unapproved use, repayments the established income cannot support, or a purchase price above the lender's accepted value. You can check where you stand before a second application adds another enquiry to your file.
If your guest structures sit inside a park rather than on a farm, the rules for cabins inside a caravan park apply instead. Where the land itself is the main security, the starting point is usually a loan secured on the land.
What type of loan do you need for a farm stay or glamping business?
There usually is not one single “farm stay loan”. The finance is normally split according to what is being funded: rural or commercial property finance for the land, construction finance for fixed buildings, equipment finance for movable tents or pods, and working capital for the period before the accommodation has a proven trading record.
| Your situation | What the lender reads first | Usual finance route | First thing to sort |
|---|---|---|---|
| You already farm and want to add a farm stay or glamping | The farm's own trading and the equity in the land | The existing farm loan for the land side; equipment finance or a loan increase for tents and pods | Whether your zone and planning scheme allow guest accommodation |
| You are buying a working farm to run a farm stay on | Whether the farm is commercial, and whether your income carries the loan before any guests arrive | A rural property loan, with the accommodation counted once it trades | The planning pathway and a pre-purchase farm check before the contract goes unconditional |
| You are buying an established farm stay or eco-lodge | The business's own booking, bank and tax records, and its approvals | A property loan or a going concern purchase, depending on how the sale is structured | Whether the approvals and trading records come across with the sale |
| You own a lifestyle block and want to add cabins or tents | The property as a home or lifestyle holding, not a farm | Often a loan on the property as a home or lifestyle block, with equipment finance for movable structures | Which approval pathway applies, since farm stay rules may not |
| You want to build an eco-lodge on bushland | The land, valued for what any covenant, bushfire overlay and approval allow | Construction finance for the fixed buildings, drawn in stages | Tourist accommodation approval and bushfire requirements before design |
The table shows the usual starting point, not a lender policy; each lender takes its own view. Whichever row fits, the order you do things in matters as much as the loan itself, so the steps in order are set out further down.
Does the planning approval change whether a lender will fund a farm stay?
Yes. The permitted use affects what the valuer can recognise, the valuation affects how much security the lender accepts, and the approved trading activity affects what accommodation income the lender can rely on. In practical terms: approval → valuation → countable income → borrowing capacity. Accommodation run outside its approval is income a lender may leave out and a use a future buyer may have to stop, so the first job is to find out what your planning scheme calls the use.
What counts as a farm stay in New South Wales?
In New South Wales, farm stay accommodation is a building or place on a commercial farm that is ancillary to the farm. The farm must be commercial, shown for example by the council categorising it as farmland or by it being a primary production business for tax purposes, and it cannot be a hobby or recreational farm. That is the hinge for anyone thinking about cabins when the land is a hobby farm: the farm stay category does not apply.
NSW also offers exempt and complying development pathways for farm stays, each with its own limits, and farm stay accommodation cannot be done as complying development on bush fire prone land. The detail sits in the state's agritourism business guide.
Can you put glamping tents on a NSW farm without a development application?
Sometimes, but only inside tight limits: NSW lets farm stay accommodation, including tents, campervans and caravans, go ahead as exempt development if it meets a set of development standards, which include land zoned RU1 or RU4, of 15 hectares or more, run as a primary production business for tax purposes or rated as farmland by the council. Outside that pathway, the general camping exemption allows no more than two tents, caravans or campervans, for stays of no more than two consecutive days and no more than 60 days a year. Anything beyond those limits needs a development application, for example as farm stay accommodation, a primitive camping ground, a caravan park or camping ground, or an eco tourist facility.
For a lender, the pathway matters because it caps the income. A glamping site running more tents or more nights than its exemption allows is running outside its approval, and that income is usually left out.
Source: Eurobodalla Shire Council, Camping on private land, summarising the Codes SEPP Subdivision 16E and clause 77 of the Local Government (Manufactured Home Estates, Caravan Parks, Camping Grounds and Moveable Dwellings) Regulation 2021, updated 19 May 2026, read 25 September 2026. Check the current state instruments and your own council before relying on it.
What is a host farm in Victoria?
A host farm is Victoria's planning term for an agricultural property used to provide accommodation for people away from their normal place of residence, so they can experience living on land used for agriculture. Whether you need a permit depends on your zone and your local planning scheme.
How does Queensland treat farm stays and glamping in planning?
In Queensland, whether a farm stay or glamping site is allowed depends on your council's planning scheme, which usually treats it as short term accommodation and may require it to stay secondary to farming. State guidance notes that a scheme's short term accommodation definition may include farm stay or glamping, and offers examples only.
Do lenders value cabins that were never approved?
Lenders and valuers usually discount or exclude cabins and glamping structures that lack planning approval, and usually do not count the income they earn. A valuer values the use the land is allowed, not the use it is put to, and income from an unapproved use is income that may need to stop. Getting the approval in order before the valuation is usually cheaper than arguing about it afterwards.
| State | Planning term | What the land must be | Where the rules sit |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Farm stay accommodation | A commercial farm, with the accommodation ancillary to it; not a hobby or recreational farm | Your council's LEP, plus exempt and complying standards set by the state; complying development is not available on bush fire prone land |
| Victoria | Host farm | An agricultural property where guests experience living on land used for agriculture | The zone table in your local planning scheme |
| Queensland | Usually short term accommodation, which may include farm stay or glamping | Council schemes may require it to stay ancillary or subordinate to rural use | Your council's planning scheme; state guidance offers examples only |
| Other states and territories | Varies by state or territory | Set by the local scheme; not covered in this table | Your council's planning scheme |
Sources: NSW Department of Planning, Setting up an agritourism business, September 2023. Victoria Planning Provisions clause 73.03. Queensland Government, Supporting agritourism through planning schemes. All read 25 September 2026.
Check your council's planning scheme before you buy or build. The planning check belongs alongside the other steps in checking a farm before you buy, and it is the first document we ask for when we look at accommodation finance on rural land.
Will a lender count the income from a farm stay or glamping site?
A lender counts what your records prove, not what the booking calendar or a tent supplier's revenue estimate promises, so a new farm stay's income is usually left out until it has a trading history. Once the records exist, the guest income can help with servicing the loan, alongside the farm's own figures.
Why don't published occupancy figures describe a farm stay?
Published Australian occupancy figures do not describe farm stays because they cover larger properties. National accommodation occupancy was 72.9 per cent in 2025 according to Tourism Research Australia, but that benchmark excludes establishments under 10 rooms, which leaves out most farm stays. We could find no public Australian source that publishes seasonal occupancy for small rural stays either: the ABS small-area accommodation series carried monthly figures for larger establishments only, and it has since been discontinued. So the business's own records are the evidence a lender will use.
Sources: Tourism Research Australia, Annual benchmark report. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Tourist accommodation, small area data. Both read 25 September 2026.
What records prove a farm stay's seasonal income?
A farm stay's seasonal income is proved by records that reconcile: booking exports from Airbnb, Hipcamp or any other platform, bank deposits and business activity statements that agree with each other, and accounts that show the farm and the accommodation separately. In our experience the split is the part most often missing, and it is the first thing a credit team asks for. The same logic applies to seasonal income on a low doc loan.
Does a lender use gross Airbnb or Hipcamp bookings as income?
Gross booking figures are evidence of turnover, but they are not automatically the income a lender uses for servicing. A lender usually wants to understand what the accommodation business actually earns after platform fees, cancellations and the operating costs needed to produce those bookings, then reconcile that result against bank deposits, BAS, accounts and tax records. Different lenders calculate serviceability differently, so there is no universal percentage of Airbnb, Hipcamp or Booking.com turnover that every lender will count.
How do lenders assess a new farm stay with no trading history?
A lender assessing a new farm stay usually relies on the farm's or your other business income to carry the loan, and counts the guest income only once it has a trading record. Some lenders will look at alternatives to full financial statements, set out in what lenders use instead of two years of figures, but they still want proof the income is real.
Can a business plan or revenue forecast replace farm stay trading history?
A business plan and forecast can support the case, but they usually do not replace proven income for servicing. Forecasts help a lender understand the build cost, pricing, seasonality, operating costs and cash buffer; the repayments still normally need to work from established farm, business or employment income until the accommodation has records of its own.
Confirmed forward bookings can help support the story, but they usually do not carry the same weight as income already earned and reconciled through the business. They are evidence of demand, not a substitute for a trading record, because bookings can still cancel and they do not by themselves show the costs required to deliver the stay.
Does the farm income have to carry a farm stay loan on its own?
Often, yes, in the first seasons: until the accommodation has a trading record, the farm's income usually has to meet the repayments, including through the guest off season. Plan working capital for the quiet months, because a farm stay's income swings with the season and the repayments do not. Options for funding the off season are worth settling before the first winter, not during it.
Records that help
- Accounts showing farm and accommodation income separately
- Booking platform exports that match bank deposits
- Business activity statements covering the accommodation
- A full season or more of trading
- The planning approval on file
Records that get discounted
- Forecasts, projected occupancy and supplier per-tent revenue or payback estimates
- Income from accommodation run without approval
- Cash bookings that do not show in the bank
- One peak season treated as a full year
- Farm and guest income blended with no split
From our broking experience (indicative, not a lender policy, as at September 2026)
- The first thing a credit team asks for is the farm's figures and the accommodation's figures shown separately. When they are blended in one set of accounts, the accommodation is harder to count.
- The most common reason the accommodation income is left out is a short record: a season or two of bookings rarely carries a loan on its own. The next most common is approval paperwork that does not match what is actually operating.
- What helps: booking platform exports and bank deposits that reconcile to the business activity statements, and the planning approval in the file before the valuer visits.
Every lender and valuer takes its own view of a farm stay; the treatment that counts for your loan is the one in your lender's assessment. Indicative only, based on deals we have worked on, not a quote or an offer. Not financial advice.
Are glamping tents, pods and cabins part of the land security or financed separately?
It turns on whether the structure is legally and practically part of the land. Fixed cabins are generally treated with the land security, while genuinely relocatable tents, pods and cabins may remain goods that can be financed separately. The lender and its legal or valuation treatment determine the final classification.
What does the law mean by a fixture?
Under section 10 of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009, fixtures means goods, other than crops, that are affixed to land, and section 8(1)(j) says the Act does not apply to an interest in a fixture. So a fixed cabin is secured through the mortgage over the land, while a structure that stays goods is secured on the Personal Property Securities Register. How firmly a structure is attached, and why it was put there, decide which it is; the lender's own view decides how it is secured. This is general information, not legal advice.
When can glamping tents and pods be bought on equipment finance?
Glamping tents, pods and relocatable cabins can usually be bought on equipment finance when they can be moved and the lender can register over them as goods on the PPSR. That is the usual route for pods on skids, safari tents and similar, through equipment finance for tents and pods, often written as a chattel mortgage over the structures themselves.
Can one loan pay for the land, cabins, glamping tents and fit-out?
Sometimes one property facility can cover more than one part, but many projects are cleaner as a funding stack. The land may sit on the mortgage, fixed cabins may be drawn under construction funding, movable tents or pods may sit on equipment finance, and furniture, marketing, wages and the first quiet season may need working capital. Treating every cost as “the property loan” can leave a shortfall late in the project.
Is glamping tent finance from the supplier a loan or a rental?
Tent supplier finance quoted per tent per week may be a rental or lease rather than a loan, and under a rental or lease the supplier, not you, owns the tents during the term. Under PPS law, a lease from a business that regularly leases goods is a PPS lease when the term is more than two years, or up to two years with renewals that can take it past two years, and the supplier can register it on the PPSR. Read the agreement for who owns the tents at the end, and tell your lender about it: the tents will not form part of your security, and the payments will usually count as a commitment when your servicing is assessed.
Source: Australian Financial Security Authority, Leases, bailments and consignments that can be registered on the PPSR, read 25 September 2026. Whether a particular agreement is a PPS lease is a question for your solicitor.
Can you use equity in the farm or your home to pay for glamping tents?
Often, yes: if the land has enough equity, a lender may increase your property loan to pay for tents and pods instead of using equipment finance. The trade-off is the term. Tents and pods are replaced far sooner than a property loan runs, so spreading their cost over a long mortgage can mean still paying for them after they are gone, while equipment finance usually matches the term to the structure's life and leaves the property loan unchanged. Which suits you depends on your equity and cashflow, and the tax side is a question for your accountant.
Do relocatable glamping structures add to the land's valuation?
Relocatable tents, pods and cabins usually add little to a valuer's figure for the land, because they can be taken away. The same question comes up in parks, covered in how lenders read cabins in a caravan park.
How are new farm stay cabins funded?
Building fixed farm stay cabins is usually funded with construction finance, drawn in stages as the work is completed. In NSW, installing a manufactured or relocatable home on a farm needs the council's approval under the Local Government Act 1993, and farmers can also install a deck or other platform for glamping tents.
| Guest structure | Usually treated as | Usual finance route | Where the lender's security is recorded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabin on a slab with plumbing and power | A fixture, part of the land | Property or construction loan | Mortgage on the land title |
| Transportable cabin on stumps | Often a fixture if bolted down and connected to services; often goods if it can be lifted off and moved | Property loan if fixed; equipment finance if relocatable | Land title if a fixture; the PPSR if goods |
| Glamping pod on skids | Goods | Equipment finance | The PPSR |
| Safari tent on a timber deck | The tent as goods; the deck may be a fixture | Equipment finance for the tent | The PPSR for the tent |
| Tents on a supplier rental or lease | Goods owned by the supplier during the term | The supplier's rental or lease agreement | The supplier's registration on the PPSR, if it is a PPS lease |
| Caravan or campervan used for guests | Goods | Equipment or vehicle finance | The PPSR |
Sources: Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) ss 8(1)(j) and 10, Compilation No. 22, 14 October 2024. AFSA, PPS leases. NSW Department of Planning, Agritourism and small-scale agriculture development FAQ, September 2023. All read 25 September 2026.
Your lender's classification decides; this table shows the usual treatment, not a ruling.
What do a conservation covenant, bushfire overlay or off-grid setup do to the loan?
A conservation covenant or bushfire overlay narrows what the land can be used for, and a lender values land for the use it is allowed, not the use the owner plans. An off-grid setup changes what the lender checks rather than what the land allows. None of the three rules out a loan on its own, but each one needs to be in the file.
Does a conservation covenant need the lender's consent?
A conservation covenant usually needs your mortgage lender's written consent before it can be registered on title. In Victoria, Trust for Nature covenants are registered on title, bind future owners, and are only registered with written approval from the mortgage provider. In New South Wales, an application for a biodiversity stewardship agreement must include written consent from your financial institution if there is a mortgage or charge over the land. Other states run their own programs with their own rules.
Does a conservation covenant lower the property's valuation?
A conservation covenant usually has little effect on land value, but it can lower the valuation where it stops development on land that could otherwise have been built on. Western Australia's conservation agency says a covenant normally has little effect on land values, but where it covers an area that could otherwise have been developed, a reduction in valuation is possible. For an eco-lodge, that is the land where more cabins might have gone, and it is worth understanding how a valuation works before you sign a covenant.
How does bushfire risk affect a farm stay loan?
Bushfire risk affects a farm stay loan mainly through the valuation, because APRA's credit risk standard, APS 220, requires banks to ensure the valuation of collateral such as land takes into account, to the extent possible, external events including fire, drought and flood. It is a valuation requirement on banks, not a lending or pricing rule. In NSW it also affects the planning route, as farm stay accommodation cannot be complying development on bush fire prone land.
Can you borrow against eco-tourism accommodation inside a national park?
Eco-tourism accommodation inside a national park is usually run under a lease or licence for a set term, so a lender is lending against a right that ends rather than land you own. That puts it closer to leasehold accommodation than to a farm stay on freehold land.
Will a lender finance an off-grid farm stay?
An off-grid setup does not stop a farm stay loan on its own: solar, batteries and tank water are part of the property, and the lender wants evidence they are approved, maintained and adequate for the guests the site takes. Water and wastewater approvals for the guest accommodation are the documents most often asked for.
Have these ready before a lender or valuer asks:
- A title search showing any covenant.
- The covenant deed or agreement, if there is one.
- A bushfire attack level assessment if you are building.
- Water and wastewater approvals for the guest accommodation.
- Written access arrangements for the site.
Sources: Trust for Nature, Conservation covenant FAQ. NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Biodiversity stewardship agreement application guide, January 2024. WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Nature conservation covenant program. APRA, APS 220, paragraph 50. All read 25 September 2026.
Will a concessional farm loan or a tourism grant pay for the farm stay?
A concessional farm loan usually will not pay for the accommodation itself, because the Commonwealth's farm loans are for farm assets and guest accommodation run for tourism is not a farm asset under their rules. State tourism grants are a different channel: some have funded tourist accommodation, but they run in competitive rounds and need a co-contribution.
Can a Farm Investment Loan or AgriStarter Loan fund a farm stay?
No, neither Regional Investment Corporation loan can fund the farm stay accommodation itself, because both exclude non-farm assets and non-farm expenses. Both say they cannot be used for the purchase of or investment in non-farm assets or the payment of non-farm expenses, and both are limited to eligible farming industries; the AgriStarter Loan also excludes refinancing non-farm business debt. Eligibility is decided by the RIC case by case. What these loans can do is fund the farm side of the business, which may free the farm's own cash or security for other plans.
Do state farm loan schemes fund farm stay accommodation?
State farm loan schemes vary, and Tasmania's AgriGrowth Loan Scheme expressly excludes farm stay accommodation whose main purpose is tourism with paying guests. Every state runs its own schemes, so check yours before you plan around one.
Sources: Regional Investment Corporation, Farm Investment Loan and AgriStarter Loan. Building Tasmania, AgriGrowth Loan Scheme, updated 28 July 2026. All read 25 September 2026.
Can a state tourism grant pay for farm stay or glamping accommodation?
Sometimes: state tourism grants, unlike concessional farm loans, have funded tourist accommodation, but they are competitive, run in rounds that open and close, and usually need your own co-contribution. Victoria's Regional Tourism Investment Fund 2024 had an accommodation uplift stream of $500,000 to $2 million per project, required co-contributions, and closed on 19 July 2024. South Australia's Experience Nature Tourism Fund offered grants of $10,000 to $50,000 for nature-based tourism in or near parks and reserves, including a glamping cabin build, and is now fully allocated.
If a grant is part of your plan, expect a lender to ask for the funding agreement and to see how your share of the project is paid for, since the grant rarely covers the whole cost. Check your state tourism body for rounds that are open now.
Sources: Business Victoria, Regional Tourism Investment Fund 2024. South Australian Tourism Commission, Experience Nature Tourism Fund. Both read 25 September 2026.
Before counting on any scheme, work through it in this order:
- Check the eligible industries. Most schemes list the farming activities they cover.
- Check whether your spend is a farm asset or a non-farm asset. Guest accommodation usually falls on the non-farm side.
- Check the income and labour tests. Many schemes require most of your income and work to come from the farm.
- Check whether the scheme needs a commercial lender alongside it. Some require your existing lender's support.
For the wider picture of concessional and government-backed farm finance, see our agribusiness guide.
In what order should you plan a farm stay or glamping loan?
Plan a farm stay loan in the order a lender will check it: the land and its approval first, then the title, the structures, whether the loan works without guest income, and the records that will let the guest income count later. Doing these out of order is where most of the cost and delay comes from.
- Confirm what your planning scheme calls the use, and whether your land qualifies. In NSW, farm stay accommodation needs a commercial farm.
- If you are buying, make the contract subject to finance and to your own planning and title checks. Your solicitor sets the conditions and the deadlines.
- Read the title before you commit. A covenant, easement or overlay changes what the valuer can value.
- Decide which structures will be fixed and which will be movable. Each one then goes on the loan that fits it.
- Check the loan works without the guest income. New accommodation income is usually left out until it has a record.
- Run bookings through their own account from day one. Keep the accommodation separate in your accounts and business activity statements.
- Arrange working capital for the off season. Settle it before the first quiet months, not during them.
- Go back to your lender once you have a full trading period of reconciled records. That is when the guest income can start to count.
What should you avoid paying for before farm stay finance and planning are clear?
Avoid assuming that a deposit on land, a tent order or site works will automatically be covered by the eventual loan. Before making non-refundable commitments, settle the planning pathway, title constraints, which structures are fixed or movable, the lender's security value and the source of funds for costs outside the main property facility. A tent can be financeable as equipment and still be unusable on the site if the planning pathway does not permit it.
Can you buy the land first and finance the cabins or tents later?
Yes, but treat the second stage as a new credit decision rather than money that is guaranteed to be available later. The next lender will look at the equity left in the land, the approval, the updated valuation, your servicing position and the cost of the new structures. Buying the land with no room left for stage two is a common way an otherwise workable project stalls.
What will a broker ask on the first call about a farm stay?
Expect to be asked what the land is used for now, what the planning approval allows, how much of your income comes from the farm and how much from guests, and which structures are fixed or movable. Having the title search, the approval and your latest accounts to hand shortens that call; the full list is in our accommodation document pack, and you can talk it through with a broker once you have them.
What happens after a farm stay loan settles?
After settlement, a farm stay loan is usually carried by the farm or your other income until the accommodation builds a trading record. Once it has a full trading period of reconciled records, you can ask a lender to count the guest income, which may support restructuring the loan or funding the next stage, whether you stay with your lender or move. Until then, the quiet months are the pressure point, which is why off-season working capital belongs in the plan from the start.
A farm stay, glamping site or eco-lodge is usually financed as rural land plus an accommodation business, not as one generic tourism loan. The approval determines what can legally operate, the valuation determines how much security the lender recognises, established income determines what can service the debt, and the way each structure is attached determines whether it belongs in the property, construction or equipment facility. Working capital matters as well, because repayments start before a new accommodation business has a full trading record.
Key takeaway: confirm the use, title, valuation basis and funding stack before you make irreversible commitments; then keep the guest income separately evidenced so it can support the next refinance or expansion stage.Frequently Asked Questions
Usually, if the farm, another established business or your other income can carry the loan without relying on projected guest revenue. A new farm stay's forecast helps explain the project, but the guest income normally becomes more useful after it has a reconciled trading record.
It can once the bookings reconcile to bank deposits, business activity statements and accounts over a meaningful trading period. Keep the accommodation income separate from the farm income so the lender can see what the guest business actually earns.
Yes, usually in parts: the land on a property loan, fixed cabins through construction finance, and tents or pods that can be moved on equipment finance secured over the goods themselves.
Often, if the land has enough usable equity and the loan still services, but it is not always the best match. Movable structures may suit equipment finance, while fixed cabins may belong in the property or construction facility.
Generally, settle the planning pathway before making a non-refundable order. A lender may be willing to finance a tent as equipment, but that does not mean the accommodation use is permitted on your land or that its projected income can be counted.
A working farm is normally treated as rural or commercial security, and for banks farmland is a commercial property exposure. A bed and breakfast in your own home is often assessed differently.
Not in New South Wales, where farm stay accommodation must be ancillary to a commercial farm and the planning guidance says the farm cannot be a hobby or recreational farm.
Yes, but do not assume the second loan is guaranteed. The later lender will reassess the remaining equity, valuation, approval, servicing and project cost, so leave enough borrowing capacity and cash for stage two before the land purchase becomes unconditional.
Yes. The lender reads the land and buildings, the approvals and the business's own trading records; see our guide to buying freehold or as a going concern.
No, but it usually needs your lender's written consent before it is registered, and it can lower the value where it stops development.
Not usually a loan for the accommodation itself. The Regional Investment Corporation's farm loans exclude non-farm assets, and Tasmania's AgriGrowth scheme excludes farm stay accommodation run mainly for tourism. Some state tourism grants have funded accommodation, but they run in competitive rounds and need a co-contribution.
Expect the land and title documents, planning approval, current farm or business financials, booking and bank records for any existing accommodation, business activity statements, quotes or contracts for new structures and a clear split between fixed improvements and movable equipment. See the accommodation lender document pack.
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