Accommodation Finance: Refinance and Restructure for FY27
Accommodation Finance: Refinance FY27 | Switchboard Finance
Accommodation Finance
Refinance · Restructure · Release
Accommodation Finance: Refinance and Restructure for FY27
Most accommodation owners meet the new financial year with the same question: is the funding behind the business still the right shape? Before June 30 there is a window to refinance, restructure or release equity across a portfolio, and acquisition is not the only lane worth mapping.
Quick Answer
Before the new financial year, a self-employed accommodation owner usually has three moves: refinance the portfolio onto a cleaner structure, restructure the funding behind it, or release equity without selling. Which one fits depends on your position and your going concern valuation, mapped from the accommodation finance hub.
Acquisition is not the only lane
Acquisition is not the only lane in accommodation finance, and at the end of the financial year it is often not the most useful one. Finance is usually pictured as the money to buy the next motel or park, but the higher-leverage move before June 30 is frequently to reshape what you already own, which is to refinance, restructure or release across the portfolio rather than add to it.
Accommodation and food services was one of the steadier lanes through 2024-25, with the number of businesses across the sector growing 1.2 percent over the year even as costs climbed. For an owner, a stable sector is the backdrop against which the funding behind the business, not just the asset itself, is worth reviewing before the new financial year.
That reframe matters because the assets in this lane are specialised. A motel, a caravan park or a pub is financed on its trading, so the questions that decide a refinance or a restructure are different from a standard property loan. The starting point is your position today, mapped against the accommodation finance hub, not the next deal on the horizon.
One funding map: refinance, restructure or release
The clearest way to weigh your options is to put them on one funding map with three lanes: refinance, restructure or release. That is one funding map across the portfolio, not five separate decisions, and the order we usually map them in is simple. Fix the shape of the senior debt first, then decide whether to restructure the capital behind it or release equity for the next move.
Refinance is the first lane. It replaces the existing debt with a facility that fits better, whether that means a sharper rate, a single structure that consolidates several assets, or a longer term that eases the monthly position. For owners carrying debt across more than one site, a refinance across the whole portfolio is usually the first move, and our equity release and refinance page and our guide to refinancing a portfolio map how it works.
Restructure is the second lane, and it is broader than a refinance. It reshapes the capital behind the business, which can mean bringing in private lending to recapitalise ahead of a cleaner senior facility, or using working capital to clear a position before the new year. The private capital restructure walkthrough and the working capital timing piece each cover one side of it.
Release is the third lane. Where an asset has built up value above its debt, you can release some of that equity without selling, to fund the next purchase, a refurbishment, or a restructure elsewhere in the group. Release is a planning choice on a strong position, not a last resort, which is exactly why it belongs on the same map as the other two lanes.
Release is a lever on a strong position, not a last resort
Releasing equity is a planning lever on a strong position, not a sign of trouble, and it is the lane owners most often underuse. Where a motel, park or pub has built value above its existing debt, a refinance against the going concern can free some of that equity without selling.
That freed capital can fund a refurbishment, a deposit on the next site, or a restructure elsewhere in the group. Because these are specialised operating assets, the loan to value ratio a lender will support sits more conservatively than a home and varies by lender, which is why the going concern read does the work. A quick eligibility check frames what your position will actually release before you plan against it.
What a lender reads first on a refinance
What a lender reads first on a refinance is the going concern behind the asset, not the property on its own. When a portfolio comes to us for an end-of-year refinance, the first file we open is the going concern on each asset, because that is what sets the valuation a lender will lend against and, with it, what you can refinance, restructure or release.
For accommodation this is the whole game. A freehold going concern, where the real estate and the operating business are valued and financed as one, supports a cleaner position than a leasehold or a business whose trading has paused. The stronger and steadier the trade, the more room there is to move across all three lanes, which is why our going concern explainer sits underneath every accommodation decision we map.
Which portfolios this map suits best
This map suits some portfolios more cleanly than others, and knowing where yours sits saves a wasted move. The common thread is whether the debt is simply the wrong shape or genuinely unaffordable, because the first refinances cleanly and the second needs a different conversation.
An owner carrying debt across several sites on facilities taken on deal by deal is the clearest fit for the refinance lane, since one consolidated facility usually beats five separate decisions, and our guide to refinancing a portfolio walks that through. A freehold group whose existing debt is just the wrong shape refinances or restructures without friction. Where one asset is cross-collateralised or tangled, that security is the piece to untangle first, often with a short private capital step. And where the structure sits across trusts or several entities, the restructure lane is the starting point, not the refinance.
Mapping the position before the FY27 reset
Mapping the position before the FY27 reset means doing the work in the weeks before June 30, while you can still act on it rather than react to it. The position we work most often at this time of year is an owner who wants the new structure settled and clean before they lodge, not after, because a refinance or restructure that lands cleanly reads far better than one rushed through in July.
It is also worth mapping against what is changing. The Government has announced a suite of measures in the Federal Budget 2026-27 that shape FY27 planning, including reintroducing loss carry back so eligible companies can offset a loss against tax paid in prior years, and rollover relief flagged to help small businesses that want to restructure, which matters because many accommodation assets sit in trusts. None of this is law yet, but it is the backdrop a restructure should be planned against rather than a reason to rush.
Once the structure is settled, the personal side often follows: an owner who has just refinanced or restructured may then look at a One Doc home loan, where a lender will look for the new structure to be bedded down before they lend, as the home loan timing piece explains. Across all of it, the wider property lending hub sits alongside the accommodation lane for owners whose security spans both.
Accommodation finance is not only the money to buy the next asset. Before FY27, the stronger move is often to refinance, restructure or release across the portfolio you already hold, mapped against the going concern a lender reads first. Acquisition is one lane on that map, not the whole map.
Key takeaway: map your position before June 30, then choose whether to refinance, restructure or release, rather than defaulting to the next purchase.Frequently Asked Questions
Refinancing an accommodation business means replacing the existing debt behind a motel, park or pub with a new facility that better fits the position, whether that is a lower rate, a consolidated structure across several assets, or a longer term. Because these assets are financed as a going concern, the new facility is built on the trading business and the property together, not the bricks alone. The right structure depends on the going concern valuation and what a lender will support, which is worth mapping through the accommodation finance hub before you commit.
Releasing equity from a motel or caravan park without selling it is possible where the asset has built up value above its existing debt, through a refinance or a new facility secured against the going concern. This is the same mechanism as any equity release, applied to a specialised operating asset rather than a home, so the loan to value ratio a lender will support is typically more conservative and varies by lender. Our equity release and refinance page sets out how this works for accommodation owners.
Refinancing accommodation finance replaces one facility with a better-fitting one, while restructuring reshapes the funding behind the business more broadly, which can mean bringing in private lending to recapitalise or using working capital to clear a position before the new financial year. A refinance is usually about the rate and the structure of the senior debt; a restructure is about the whole shape of the capital behind the portfolio, mapped against the going concern. Many end-of-year plans use both, in sequence.
An accommodation owner is usually best reviewing their finance in the weeks before June 30, while there is still time to act on the position rather than react to it. That window lets you map the portfolio, weigh a refinance, restructure or release, and factor in announced measures such as those in the Federal Budget 2026-27 that shape FY27 planning. Leaving it until after lodgement narrows the options, which is why a mid-June map tends to pay off, as our going concern guide explains in the financing context.
The going concern affects what you can refinance because the valuation and the borrowing on an accommodation asset are both built on the trading business, not on the property in isolation. A strong going concern, where the freehold and the business trade together, supports a cleaner refinance or restructure than a leasehold or a paused operation. You can see how lenders read this in our going concern explainer.
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