Private Lending for a Plant Deposit on a Supplier Deadline
Private Lending for a Plant Deposit (2026) | Switchboard Finance
Manufacturing Hub
Private Lending · Plant Deposit · Supplier Deadline
Private Lending for a Plant Deposit on a Supplier Deadline
The supplier wants the deposit before they will hold your machine slot, and the bank's consent clock will not move fast enough. Private lending is built for exactly this gap, assessed on security, equity and exit rather than income servicing. Here is how the timeline actually runs and what has to be true before it settles.
Quick Answer
Private lending can release a plant deposit fast because it is assessed on security, equity and a clear exit rather than serviced income. It suits a manufacturer holding a booked machine slot against a supplier deadline, with the facility repaid on exit through a refinance, an exit strategy agreed up front.
Funding a Plant Deposit When the Supplier Will Not Wait
Private lending can fund an equipment supplier deposit in approximately 24 hours to 7 days from a signed offer, indicative and varies by lender, which is exactly why it fits a booked machine slot. When a fabricator commits to a new line before 30 June, the supplier rarely holds the slot or the quoted price on a handshake. They want the deposit down, and the order slot and the price hold only once it lands.
A bank term facility can fund the same purchase, but the timeline is the problem, not the appetite. Where the deposit has to clear this week, the sequence on a private facility is short and predictable. Day one is usually the indicative offer against the property security. The lender then orders a valuation, confirms the equity position behind any current mortgage, and registers its security interest. Settlement follows, and the funds move to the supplier so the slot is locked.
The security side is straightforward. A private facility is taken over property, and a security interest in any financed equipment can also be registered on the Personal Property Securities Register, the national register that records who holds an interest in an asset. The deposit itself is assessed against the property, on forced sale value and the equity that sits above the first mortgage, not on a servicing calculator. That is the structural reason it moves faster than a bank: the test is the security and the exit, not twelve months of tax returns.
The first thing we pressure-test on these files is whether the equity genuinely supports the release once the current mortgage is taken off the top. If it does, the rest is process. This is company-to-company lending by design, written for a business buying a business asset, which keeps it clear of consumer-credit timelines.
What Has to Be True for the Exit
The exit strategy is the route that repays the private facility once the plant is installed and producing, and it is the single most important thing the lender wants documented before settlement. A short-term private loan is never meant to sit for the full life of the machine. It carries the deposit across the gap, then a cleaner, cheaper structure takes over. What has to be true for the exit is that the repayment route is real, dated and within reach.
In most plant deals there are three credible exits. The first is a refinance into a chattel mortgage or term facility once the equipment is commissioned and the business has a clean trading period behind it. The second is an equity release through a second mortgage that retires the private debt and resets the balance onto longer terms. The third, used less often, is the sale of an existing asset that the business was always going to dispose of.
From a lender's perspective the exit is what underwrites the speed. Because the facility is priced for time rather than for a permanent rate, the cost only makes sense if the exit lands on schedule. That is the reason the conversation we have at the start is about the back end, not the front. If you are weighing a private facility against a second-charge structure, our guide on a second mortgage versus a caveat loan walks through how the same property equity can be put to work two different ways.
Why the Interest Is Capitalised, Not Paid Monthly
On most private plant facilities the interest is typically capitalised and repaid at exit rather than serviced month by month, which is a deliberate cashflow design. Capitalised interest is interest added to the loan balance and cleared when the facility is repaid, indicative and varies by lender. For a manufacturer commissioning a new line, that matters, because the months right after install are the months the machine is not yet at full output.
Holding the repayments off during the bedding-in period keeps working capital where it is needed, on raw materials, labour and the ramp to full production, rather than on a monthly finance line. The cost of that interest is known up front and built into the exit number, so there is no surprise at the back end. It is a feature of the structure, not a hidden charge.
The trade is simple to state. A private facility is more expensive than a bank line because it prices for speed and for sitting behind an existing mortgage. You are buying time and certainty on the supplier deadline, not a long-run rate. When the exit refinance lands, the business steps onto a structure built for the full term of the asset, and the short-term cost has done its single job. Where this gets misjudged is treating the private rate as if it were a permanent one; the right comparison is the cost of the facility against the cost of losing the machine slot and the price hold entirely.
Where a Caveat Loan Fits the Same Deadline
A caveat loan fits the same supplier deadline when first mortgagee consent will not land in time, because it is lodged against the property equity directly rather than waiting on the existing lender to sign off. On a bank-consented second mortgage, that consent is the long pole: it typically takes 8 to 14 days, indicative and varies by lender, and a supplier holding a machine slot rarely waits that long.
A caveat loan is a short-term facility secured by a caveat over the property, and it is the fastest way to put equity to work when the clock is the constraint. It is assessed on the same fundamentals as any private facility, the forced sale value, the equity position and the documented exit, and the interest is usually capitalised and repaid at exit in the same way. The difference is purely speed of access.
Treat it as a bridge, not a destination. The caveat carries the deposit across the deadline, and the exit then moves the debt onto a longer structure once the machine is producing. If you want to see how a manufacturer typically maps the choice between speed and structure across a full plant purchase, the Manufacturing Hub and the manufacturing loan pack set out the lanes side by side, and a broker can size the release against your equity before the supplier deadline lands.
| What matters | Moves fast when | Slows down when |
|---|---|---|
| Equity | Strong property equity above the current mortgage | Thin equity once the first mortgage comes off the top |
| Exit | A documented exit, dated and within reach | No clear exit beyond hoping the machine performs |
| Lender consent | A caveat option when consent will not land in time | First mortgagee consent needed and time is short |
| Valuation | A valuation that supports the working figure | A valuation that lands below the working figure |
| Purpose | Company to company, a business asset purchase | A consumer or mixed purpose, which business private lending does not cover |
| Servicing | Interest capitalised, so no monthly servicing test | Treated as a long-term rate rather than a bridge |
Private lending and a caveat loan both exist to solve one problem: a supplier deadline the bank's timeline cannot meet. They are fast because they are assessed on security, equity and a documented exit rather than serviced income, with interest typically capitalised and repaid at exit. The cost buys time and certainty on the machine slot, and the exit is what makes that cost worth paying.
Key takeaway: Size the release against your equity and pin the exit before you sign, because the exit, not the headline cost, is what makes a short-term plant facility the right call.Frequently Asked Questions
Private lending can fund an equipment deposit in approximately 24 hours to 7 days from a signed offer, indicative and varies by lender, because it is assessed on security, equity and exit rather than income servicing. The first day is usually the indicative offer, with settlement following once the valuation and security registration are done. You can read how the structure works on our private lending page.
Private lending carries a higher cost than a bank facility because it prices for speed and for taking a position behind an existing mortgage. The trade is time, not a permanent rate, which is why the exit that retires it matters more than the headline cost, and why capitalised interest is built into the exit number up front. Interest is typically capitalised and repaid at exit, varies by lender.
The exit strategy on a private loan for plant is the route that repays the facility once the equipment is installed and producing, most often a refinance into a chattel mortgage or term facility, an equity release through a second mortgage, or the sale of an asset. A private lender wants the exit documented before settlement, which is what has to be true for the facility to fund.
A caveat loan can cover a supplier deposit before EOFY when first mortgagee consent will not land in time, because the caveat is lodged against property equity rather than waiting on the existing lender. It is a short-term bridge to a cleaner structure, and you can compare it with a second mortgage in our guide on a second mortgage versus a caveat loan.
Income proof is not the primary test for private lending on equipment, because these facilities are assessed on security, equity and a clear exit rather than serviced income. A manufacturer with strong property equity and a documented exit can fund where a bank servicing calculator would stall, which is the gap private lending is built to fill.
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