80% LVR on a Commercial Property Loan (2026)
80% LVR commercial property loan for builders and developers – Switchboard Finance
Property Lending
Commercial LVR · Valuation basis · Interest cover
80% LVR on a Commercial Property Loan: Can You Get It in 2026?
Eighty per cent on a commercial property is written every week in Australia, just not by the lenders most buyers approach first. What decides it is rarely appetite. It is the basis your valuer was instructed on, and whether the income covers the interest once the loan gets that big.
Quick Answer
Yes, but rarely from a major bank. That top LVR band is non-bank territory, and the gate is usually interest cover and the valuation basis your lender instructs, not appetite. Start with how commercial property loans work, then check your LVR honestly.
Which lenders actually write 80% LVR on commercial property?
Non-bank lenders write 80% LVR on commercial property; the major banks generally do not. The split is not close, and it is the single most useful thing to know before you set a deposit. Bank commercial guides cluster their maximum around 70% of assessed value, while four non-bank commercial product guides current between March and August 2026 publish a maximum of 80%, each with its own loan size ceiling, postcode restriction and security condition attached.
The table below is the consolidation the scattered product pages never make in one place. Read it as a map of tiers, not a shortlist, and note the source date beside every figure.
Every figure above is that lender's published maximum at the guide date shown, read live on 23 August 2026. A published maximum is a ceiling, not an offer. The LVR a single file is approved at depends on the security type, its location, the documentation you can produce and the lender's credit assessment on the day. Rates move with the tier as well, so read what 80% LVR does to your rate before you commit to the higher band, and see the lanes we broker on commercial property loans.
If you are still working out the cash side rather than the ceiling, start with how much deposit a commercial property loan needs. This page is about reaching the number structurally; that page is about sizing the cash.
How the valuation basis changes the LVR you can actually reach
The valuation basis moves your LVR more often than the lender's cap does, because LVR is measured against assessed value and not against the price you agreed. Two buyers can pay the same money for the same building and receive different funded bases, purely because the valuer was instructed on a different basis. No page ranking on this term explains that, and it is where most 80% files quietly lose their last ten points.
Australian Property Institute guidance papers ANZVGP 111 Valuation Procedures, Real Property and ANZVGP 112 Valuations for Mortgage and Loan Security Purposes both took effect on 1 January 2025 and remain current. ANZVGP 112 requires owner occupied property to be assessed on a vacant possession basis unless the valuer is instructed otherwise, requires the valuer to report the GST status of the valuation, and provides that a report instructed by a borrower or their agent cannot be relied upon until the valuer consents in writing. Read live at api.org.au on 23 August 2026; the standards are the professional framework, not a lender policy, and individual lenders instruct within it.
Where a tenanted commercial property is sold as the supply of a going concern, whether the sale is GST free depends on the conditions the ATO sets out in GSTR 2002/5, not on the label typed into the contract. Read live at ato.gov.au on 23 August 2026. Get that wrong and the funded base shifts by the GST amount at the worst possible moment. Work through how going-concern valuation changes your LVR, and see what a commercial valuation actually tests before you order anything.
Can you service it? Interest cover is the real gate at 80%
Interest cover, not lender appetite, is what stops most 80% files. A lender publishing a maximum of 80% is telling you the ceiling of its policy, not that your file clears its serviceability test at that level. Interest coverage ratio is net property or business income divided by the loan interest, and because interest scales with the loan while rent does not, the ratio tightens precisely as you climb toward the cap.
Rows one to four are drawn from a bank commercial lending guide dated May 2026, which sets 1.1x cover at up to 60% LVR and 1.3x above 60% for loans to $7.5m, and states that the assessment includes a buffer currently set at 1%. Row five is drawn from a non-bank commercial rate and product guide effective 1 August 2026, which requires a lease doc interest coverage ratio of at least 1.2x calculated as net rental income divided by the actual interest payment. Both were read live on 23 August 2026. Each is that lender's published position at that date, not a market rule and not an offer.
APRA sets no maximum LVR for commercial property lending. Prudential Standard APS 220 Credit Risk Management, effective 1 January 2022, and the accompanying Prudential Practice Guide APG 220, published 19 August 2021, leave origination standards, serviceability assessment and valuation governance with each authorised deposit taking institution. Read live at apra.gov.au on 23 August 2026. That is why bank caps land at a similar level without any rule requiring it, and why a lender outside that framework can price the extra risk and write the higher band. If the definition itself is what you need, the LVR glossary entry covers it, and how commercial property loans work covers the mechanics end to end.
How files reach an effective 80%, and what each route costs
Most files that reach 80% do it by changing the security position rather than by finding a lender with a higher number. Effective LVR is the total debt against the total security, so adding security moves the ratio just as reliably as adding cash. Each route below works, and each one carries a cost that shows up later rather than at settlement.
Routes that reach an effective 80%
- Non-bank full doc against a single commercial security, priced at that lender's top band
- A second mortgage behind the first, with written first mortgagee consent and a priority deed
- Support security from a related property, lifting combined LVR with one lender
- A guarantor property offered as additional security instead of more cash
- A lease doc structure where tenant strength and remaining term carry the interest cover
What each route actually costs you
- Cross collateralisation ties both properties to one lender and one release decision
- A second mortgage stops dead if the first mortgagee will not consent
- Support security exposes a property that was never part of the purchase
- A guarantor takes on the debt, not a favour, and needs independent legal advice
- Selling one property later can force the whole facility to be restructured
From our broking, indicative
From our broking files, the commercial files that actually reached an effective 80% LVR got there one of two ways, and almost never by asking a major bank to stretch.
- Non-bank full doc pricing at 75 to 80% against a single commercial security, where a strong lease and a long remaining WALE carried the interest cover. Basis: recent Switchboard commercial files, as of August 2026.
- Cross collateralised support security, where a second related property lifted the combined position rather than the lender lifting its cap. Basis: recent Switchboard commercial files, as of August 2026.
- The same files presented to major banks were held at a 65 to 70% cap, so the difference was lender tier rather than borrower quality. Basis: recent Switchboard commercial files, as of August 2026.
Indicative only, based on deals we have placed. Not a quote and not an offer. Actual terms depend on lender policy and your circumstances at the time of application. Not financial advice.
Each of those routes has its own file requirements. Read stacking a second mortgage to 80% for what a credit team checks before it will sit behind another lender, what property security lenders accept for which assets qualify, and guarantor security to lift LVR before you ask anyone to sign.
The SMSF exception after the 10 August 2026 LRBA change
Commercial property borrowing inside a self managed super fund survived the August change; residential borrowing did not. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 commenced on 10 August 2026 and narrowed the meaning of an acquirable asset so that real property acquired under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement must be business real property within the meaning of section 66 of the SIS Act. Read live at ato.gov.au on 23 August 2026.
The ATO states the amendment does not impact arrangements existing prior to that date, and does not impact the refinancing of those arrangements. A contract entered into before commencement is protected even where settlement for the acquisition happens after that date. That is the transitional position as published; confirm your own fund's position with your fund adviser rather than reading it off a table.
On the lender side, SMSF commercial LVR is often bounded by geography rather than by the super rules. One non-bank broker product guide effective 1 July 2026 publishes SMSF commercial lending to 80% in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and 70% elsewhere, read live on 23 August 2026. That is one lender's published position at that date, not a market rule and not an offer. For what a fund can and cannot hold, see SMSF LVR limits after the LRBA change. Fund setup and administration sit outside this page; it covers LVR treatment only.
Eighty per cent LVR on commercial property is real, but it lives in the non-bank tier and it is gated by two things the product pages do not discuss. The first is the valuation basis, because an owner occupied security assessed on vacant possession can land below the contract price before any lender policy applies. The second is interest cover, which tightens as the loan grows and is tested above the pay rate at a bank. Files that get to an effective 80% usually do it by adding security, not by finding a bigger number.
Key takeaway: the lender cap tells you the ceiling, the valuation and the interest cover tell you whether you reach it.Frequently Asked Questions
Major bank commercial lending generally tops out around 70% of the assessed property value. One bank commercial lending guide dated May 2026 sets a maximum of up to 70% across office, industrial, retail and mixed use security, read live on 23 August 2026. Non-bank lenders write higher, which is why the 80% question is really a question about which lender tier you are in. See commercial property loans for the lanes we broker.
You can get 80% LVR on a commercial property loan, but usually from a non-bank rather than a major. Four non-bank commercial product guides current between March and August 2026 publish maximum commercial LVRs of 80%, each with its own loan size, postcode and security conditions attached. Published maximums are a ceiling, not an offer. Read the tiers in the table above and check your LVR against the assessed value, not the price you paid.
Major banks cap lower because of their own credit policy, not because a regulator tells them to. APRA sets no maximum commercial property LVR. Prudential Standard APS 220 Credit Risk Management, effective 1 January 2022, and Prudential Practice Guide APG 220, published 19 August 2021, leave origination standards and valuation governance to each authorised deposit taking institution, read live at apra.gov.au on 23 August 2026. A non-bank sitting outside that framework can price the extra risk and write the higher band.
Interest coverage ratio is net property or business income divided by the loan interest, and it is the test that decides most commercial files. One bank commercial guide dated May 2026 requires 1.1x at up to 60% LVR and 1.3x above 60% for loans to $7.5m, assessed with a buffer currently set at 1%. One non-bank lease doc product effective 1 August 2026 requires 1.2x measured on the actual interest payment. Both figures are that lender published position at that date, not a market rule.
The valuation basis changes your LVR more often than the lender cap does, because LVR is measured against assessed value rather than purchase price. Australian Property Institute guidance paper ANZVGP 112, effective 1 January 2025, requires owner occupied property to be assessed on a vacant possession basis unless the valuer is instructed otherwise, read live at api.org.au on 23 August 2026. A vacant possession figure below your contract price shrinks the funded base before any lender policy is applied. See what a commercial valuation actually tests.
A going concern sale is valued differently, because the price covers property, business and goodwill while the lender is usually funding the property component alone. Whether the sale is GST free as the supply of a going concern depends on conditions the ATO sets out in GSTR 2002/5, not on the label typed into the contract, read live at ato.gov.au on 23 August 2026. Work through how going-concern valuation changes your LVR before you sign.
A second mortgage can lift your effective LVR toward 80%, but it needs the first mortgagee to consent in writing and usually a priority deed between the two lenders. Without that consent the structure does not proceed, whatever the second lender is willing to do. Read stacking a second mortgage to 80% for what the credit team checks first.
A guarantor property can lift your effective LVR by adding security rather than cash, which is how many files get past a lender cap without a bigger deposit. The guarantor is taking on the debt, not doing a favour, and will need independent legal advice before signing. See guarantor security to lift LVR and what property security lenders accept.
An SMSF can still borrow to buy commercial property after 10 August 2026, provided the property is business real property. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 commenced that day and narrowed the meaning of an acquirable asset so that real property acquired under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement must meet the business real property definition in section 66 of the SIS Act, read live at ato.gov.au on 23 August 2026. Residential property that fails that definition is out.
Existing arrangements are not affected by the 10 August 2026 change, and neither is refinancing them. The ATO states the amendment does not impact arrangements existing prior to that date or the refinancing of those arrangements, and that a contract entered into before commencement is protected even where settlement happens afterwards, read live at ato.gov.au on 23 August 2026. Confirm your own position with your fund adviser rather than assuming it.
SMSF commercial LVR is set by lender policy and is often bounded by geography rather than by the super rules. One non-bank broker product guide effective 1 July 2026 publishes SMSF commercial lending to 80% in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and 70% elsewhere, read live on 23 August 2026. That is one lender published position at that date, not a market rule and not an offer. See SMSF LVR limits after the LRBA change.
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