Starting a Development at EOFY: What a Lender Checks First
Development Finance at EOFY | Switchboard Finance
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Development Finance · EOFY · Feasibility
Starting a Development at EOFY: What a Lender Checks First
Plenty of owners assume development finance is too slow to start before 30 June, so they wait. A development lender reads an EOFY-start file on the project, its feasibility, structure and exit, not on the calendar, and the right structure can move in days.
Quick Answer
A development finance lender reads an EOFY-start file on the project, not the calendar. It checks your feasibility, the entity holding the site and a credible exit first, then funds the build through development finance with staged drawdowns.
Development finance is not too slow to start before 30 June
The idea that development finance is too slow to arrange before 30 June is the single most common reason owners push a start into the new financial year, and it is usually wrong. A development lender does not assess the calendar, it assesses the project, with indicative terms in around 24 to 48 hours, varies by lender, once the feasibility and the entity are in front of a credit team. The file is assessed on feasibility and exit, not personal income, so a clean and complete submission moves far faster than most owners expect.
Around 12 percent of SMEs now name a pullback in bank credit appetite as a reason they have moved to non-bank finance, a share that has grown fourfold since 2018. For a developer who needs a decision in days rather than weeks, that shift is why so much build funding now sits with specialist funders and private lending sources who read feasibility first.
If you are weighing a start now against waiting, the property lending hub sets out where build funding fits among the other property-backed options, the business owners finance hub frames it alongside the rest of your trading finance, and the development finance page walks through how a project is funded as it is built.
What a development lender checks first
What a development lender weighs up front is rarely your tax return. What I see credit teams reach for first is the feasibility, the entity on the title, and the exit, in that order. Get those three right and the rest of the file tends to fall into place; get them wrong and no amount of personal income fixes it.
Stronger Fit
- A registered entity already holds the site, or settles it this week
- A feasibility with loan to cost around 65 to 80 percent, varies by lender
- A development approval granted, or lodged with a clear timeline
- A builder and a fixed-price contract lined up
- A defined exit, by sale or refinance
Gets Tricky
- The site still sits under an unconditional contract with no entity set
- A feasibility leaning on top-of-market end values
- No development approval and no planning timeline
- An open-ended build cost with no contract in place
- No exit beyond "we will see at completion"
This is where structure matters more than size. A modest project that reads cleanly through a commercial property loan or a development facility will clear ahead of a larger one that leaves the lender guessing, which is exactly the gap our explainer on how development finance works is built to close.
How the file is structured across the financial year boundary
A development facility is built around staged drawdowns certified by a quantity surveyor, not a single advance, so starting close to 30 June does not mean rushing the whole loan out the door before the date. The land or initial advance settles first, then each progress claim is funded as the build hits its milestones. A quantity surveyor certifies the work, and a drawdown pays in around 24 to 72 hours after certification, net of retention, varies by lender.
Because the loan is assessed on feasibility and exit, loan to cost commonly sits around 65 to 80 percent, varies by lender, and no presales are required with the right lender on the right project, as our piece on development finance without presales sets out. That structure is what lets an EOFY-start development file begin in this financial year and draw down sensibly into the next, without forcing the timeline.
What the 2026-27 Budget changes if you start now
For a builder-developer, the instant asset write-off sharpens the case for moving in this financial year rather than parking the project. The 20,000 dollar write-off remains in place to 30 June 2026, and in the 2026-27 Budget the Government announced it will be made permanent at that level from 1 July 2026 for businesses turning over under 10 million dollars, a measure that is not yet law. The same Budget announced that loss carry back would be reintroduced from 2026-27, so eligible companies could carry a current-year loss against tax paid in the prior two years. The government's Budget 2026-27 summary for business sets out both announcements.
None of that changes how a lender reads the build, but it does change the timing on plant, equipment and early losses, which is worth checking with your accountant before you decide when to start.
An EOFY-start development file stands or falls on feasibility, structure and exit, not on how many days are left before 30 June. A development lender prices the project, funds it through staged drawdowns certified by a quantity surveyor, and looks to your exit rather than your personal income, which is why a complete file can start now and draw sensibly into the new year.
Key takeaway: if your feasibility, entity and exit are ready, EOFY is a reason to start a development file, not a reason to wait.Frequently Asked Questions
A development finance lender checks your project feasibility, the entity that will hold the site, your development approval status, the building contract and your planned exit before approving an EOFY-start file. Personal income sits well down the list, because the loan is assessed on feasibility and exit, not personal income. You can see how each piece is weighed in the development finance glossary entry.
Development finance can usually be arranged before 30 June when the feasibility and the entity are ready, with indicative terms in around 24 to 48 hours, varies by lender. The delay is rarely the lender, it is an incomplete file, so getting your development finance documents in order is what protects the timeline.
Presales are not always required to get development finance, and with the right lender no presales are required when the feasibility and exit are strong. Smaller residential and value-add projects often proceed without them, which is the focus of our guide to development finance without presales.
Staged drawdowns release the loan in stages as the build reaches certified milestones rather than in one lump sum. A quantity surveyor certifies each progress claim, and a drawdown pays in around 24 to 72 hours after certification, net of retention, varies by lender.
Development finance is assessed on the project's feasibility and exit, not on your personal income, which is what sets it apart from a standard home or business loan. Loan to cost is commonly around 65 to 80 percent, varies by lender, and you can compare the structures in our piece on commercial property loans versus development finance.
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