Private lender for Melbourne and Victorian businesses

Melbourne runs on small and mid-sized businesses that own their premises: the food manufacturer in Dandenong South, the freight yard in Laverton North, the printer in Reservoir, the family that bought the shop and the flat above it on a Brunswick strip. When cash is short but the property is sound, a private loan secured on that property is often the quickest way through.

Victoria has its own registry rules, its own tax shake-up for commercial property and its own way of handling caveats. This page sets them out so you know what to expect before you sign anything. The lender lends nationally and keeps no Melbourne branch; Victoria’s electronic register makes a local counter unnecessary.

Who keeps the Victorian register, and why does it matter for speed?

Land Use Victoria maintains the Register of land. Two recent changes have made private lending faster here than it once was.

First, under section 106A of the Transfer of Land Act 1958, conveyancing instruments such as transfers, mortgages and caveats are lodged through an electronic lodgment network. The Registrar won’t accept paper versions where an ELN can be used. PEXA handles nearly every instrument type, Sympli a smaller set, and SPEAR is used for subdivision plans.

Second, from 3 August 2024 every new Victorian certificate of title is electronic. Where a property is mortgaged, the bank generally manages that electronic certificate until the mortgage is discharged. Existing paper certificates stay valid until they’re next needed in a transaction.

For a borrower, the upshot is simple. Nobody needs to chase a paper title from a safe-custody packet, and the lender’s solicitor can prepare a mortgage or caveat for lodgement the day the documents are signed.

Victorian feature	Practical effect
Section 106A electronic lodgment	Mortgages and caveats lodge through PEXA or Sympli
Electronic certificates of title from 3 August 2024	No paper title to locate before a first mortgage settles
Section 89A caveat process	The caveator must give notice of proceedings in the approved form or the caveat lapses
Section 90(1)	A caveat can also lapse when another instrument is lodged, subject to the Act’s process
Commercial and industrial property tax	Qualifying purchases from 1 July 2024 pay duty one last time, then move to an annual tax after 10 years

How are caveats handled in Victoria?

A caveat warns the world that someone claims an interest in the land, and it stops inconsistent dealings from registering. A private lender lodges one when it has a signed loan agreement that gives it an interest in your property but hasn’t yet registered a mortgage.

The owner’s tool for challenging a caveat is section 89A of the Transfer of Land Act. Once an application is made, the caveator keeps the caveat only by giving the Registrar written notice, in the approved form, that proceedings to establish its claim have started. Land Use Victoria has said it won’t accept an email or letter instead, and that failing to use the approved form results in the caveat lapsing under section 89A(5). Since February 2022 the Registrar has also stopped sending some notices about these applications, so many practitioners use a title alert service.

We couldn’t confirm the current statutory notice period on a Land Use Victoria page, so ask your solicitor or the registry for it. In practice it rarely matters for a well-run caveat loan: the term is short, the exit is set from day one, and the caveat is withdrawn at payout. Where a loan needs longer, the caveat can be replaced by a registered second mortgage; our guide to converting a caveat shows the steps.

What has changed for buyers of Melbourne commercial and industrial property?

This is the biggest Victorian difference for business owners. From 1 July 2024, commercial and industrial property began moving out of stamp duty and into an annual commercial and industrial property tax.

According to the Department of Treasury and Finance information sheet:

• A property enters the reform when a contract is signed on or after 1 July 2024, at least half of the property transacts, there is a duty liability, and it has a qualifying commercial or industrial use at settlement.
• Duty is paid one final time on that entry transaction.
• The annual tax starts 10 years after the entry transaction and is based on the unimproved value of the land.
• Later sales are duty-free while the property keeps a qualifying use.
• Eligible first purchasers can finance the entry duty through a government transition loan from the Treasury Corporation of Victoria, repaid annually over 10 years, for purchases up to $30 million, with finance approval from an approved lender.

Why it matters for private lending: a buyer of a factory in Campbellfield or Keysborough still faces a duty bill on the entry transaction, often in the very week the deposit balance falls due. Some pay it upfront from a short-term loan secured on another property, then refinance once trading figures support a bank loan. Others use the transition loan. Check which lenders qualify as approved before relying on that path. Our page on funding stamp duty on a purchase covers the short-term option.

Two other Victorian taxes belong in any exit plan. Windfall gains tax may apply when rezoning lifts land value, and land tax may apply if you own property other than your home. Both affect holding costs on land or investment property.

Which Victorian properties do private lenders look at?

The property mix behind Melbourne business lending usually falls into a few groups:

• The western industrial belt. Warehouses and yards in Laverton North, Truganina, Derrimut and Altona, home to transport and distribution operators.
• The south-east manufacturing corridor. Dandenong South, Braeside and Keysborough factories, often owner-occupied for decades and lightly geared.
• Northern industrial pockets. Campbellfield, Thomastown and Reservoir units used by trades and makers.
• Strip shops. Freehold shops in older centres across the inner north and west, plus regional strips in Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.
• Homes and investment units. Houses in growth suburbs like Clyde North or Tarneit, and units across the city, pledged for business borrowing.

Rural holdings and vacant blocks get a case-by-case look. For a factory or warehouse, our commercial property second mortgage page explains how commercial security is assessed behind a bank. Want to know where your own property lands? Ask a specialist in 60 seconds.

How does a Melbourne private loan come together?

The sequence is the same whether the security is in Footscray or Mildura:

1. You complete a short enquiry. Nobody checks your credit file at this stage.
2. A specialist calls, tests the exit and recommends a structure.
3. You receive a Letter of Offer setting out the term, the fees, including a small assessment fee, and whether interest is prepaid, capitalised or paid monthly.
4. You sign with your solicitor, who explains the documents.
5. The lender’s solicitor lodges the mortgage or caveat through the ELN, and funds move at settlement.

Pricing is set on each deal’s security, LVR, term and exit. Second mortgages and caveat loans generally cost more than a first mortgage because the lender ranks behind the bank.

Two Melbourne scenarios

Illustrative example: a Dandenong South food manufacturer owes the ATO $210k and has a payment plan it can’t keep. The directors own the factory with a modest bank loan. A second mortgage behind the bank clears the ATO in full, interest is capitalised for 12 months, and the exit is a bank refinance once two clean BAS quarters are lodged.

Illustrative example: a Geelong retailer buys the freehold of the shop it has leased for years, a qualifying commercial purchase entering the new tax system. The bank funds the price but not the entry duty. A $140k caveat loan over the owner’s investment unit in Belmont covers the duty, and the unit’s planned sale six months later repays it.

When is a private loan the wrong answer in Victoria?

Be wary if any of these apply:

• the only exit is “the business will be better by then”;
• the money is for your own home purchase or personal spending rather than the business;
• you’re comfortably bankable and can wait, in which case a bank loan will cost less over time;
• the property’s use or zoning is uncertain enough that its saleability is in question.

A clear exit is the single biggest factor. The exit strategy guide shows what a lender wants to see.

How does Victoria compare with other states?

Each registry treats caveats differently, and duty rules vary even more:

• Queensland puts a three-month clock on lender caveats, covered on the Brisbane page.
• NSW abolished paper titles back in 2021; see private lending in Sydney.
• South Australia charges no duty on qualifying commercial land, explained for Adelaide borrowers.
• WA has no mandatory cooling-off and uses settlement agents, as the Perth page sets out.
• Canberra land is held under Crown leases; read the Canberra guide.
• Tasmania’s e-conveyancing only arrived in 2024, detailed for Hobart and Tasmania.

The locations hub has the side-by-side table.

Find out what your Victorian property can unlock

The lending decision sits with fundU, a direct lender, so you deal with one specialist instead of having your file shopped to a list of funders. Your first enquiry carries no credit check.

Tell us exactly which property you’re offering, every debt already registered against it and the date you need funds. Clear answers up front let the specialist give you a firm view straight away. Start your Melbourne enquiry here.