The four SMSF lenders still active in this market.
A practitioner’s guide to La Trobe Financial, Mortgage Ezy, Pepper Money, and Granite Home Loans. LVR caps, liquidity tests, fund balance minimums, and where each lender suits a file.
A smaller market than it used to be.
The big four banks left SMSF lending across 2018 and 2019. ME Bank and a few mid-tier lenders followed. The market is now served by specialist non-bank lenders who have built SMSF policy from the ground up. Four of them sit on the Opes panel through Outsource Financial.
Lender choice is not the start of an SMSF property file. It is the end. The fund structure, the strategy, and the property come first. The lender is matched to the picture once that picture is clear. The SMSF property investment guide works through that sequence in long form, and the connection to retirement planning is where the strategy usually starts.
The four lenders we write to, in detail.
Indicative policy. The numbers shift, sometimes monthly. Treat this as a guide, not a quote.
La Trobe Financial
Long-established in the SMSF lending market. A reliable first port of call where the file fits standard policy and the property is straightforward.
- Appetite
- Residential and commercial
- LVR residential
- Up to ~80%
- LVR commercial
- Up to ~70%
- Liquidity test
- Post-settlement buffer required, typically 10% of loan
- Minimum balance
- From around $200k starting fund balance
Mortgage Ezy
Competitive on rate for residential SMSF. Useful where liquidity is tight or the fund balance is on the leaner side. Worth comparing against La Trobe for fit.
- Appetite
- Mainly residential
- LVR residential
- Up to ~80%
- LVR commercial
- Limited
- Liquidity test
- Lighter liquidity requirement on some products
- Minimum balance
- Flexible depending on overall position
Pepper Money
Flexible servicing assessment. Helpful where contribution patterns are unusual, where there are multiple members, or where standard credit policy does not quite fit the file.
- Appetite
- Residential
- LVR residential
- Up to ~80%
- LVR commercial
- Case by case
- Liquidity test
- Assessed alongside servicing
- Minimum balance
- Considered with the overall fund picture
Granite Home Loans
SMSF specialist. Considered when the file calls for a more particular policy read, or when the property type sits between standard lender categories.
- Appetite
- SMSF-focused
- LVR residential
- Up to ~75%
- LVR commercial
- Up to ~70%
- Liquidity test
- Standard SMSF policy buffer
- Minimum balance
- Reviewed at file level
All figures are indicative and subject to lender credit policy at the time of application. The shortlist for your fund comes with reasoning, not just a name.
How the shortlist is built.
Three to four lenders are shortlisted per file. Rate is one input. Policy fit is the bigger one.
- 01Fund picture first
Balance, members, contribution pattern, liquidity, deed terms. The lender choice comes from these inputs, not the other way around.
- 02Property fit
Residential or commercial. Single dwelling or strata. Metro or regional. Each lender treats these differently.
- 03Servicing assessment
Rental income, member contributions, existing fund cashflow. How each lender will assess these is not uniform.
- 04Policy edge cases
Multiple members, related-party leases (commercial only), recent contribution caps used. Not all lenders price these the same way.
- 05Final shortlist with reasoning
Three to four lenders, with the trade-offs spelled out. You sign off on the choice before we submit.
Who is writing this comparison.
- Practitioner
- Balki Balakrishnan
- Experience
- 12+ years across advice and lending
- Advice authorisation (AFSL)
- AR 409415 of La Verne Capital Pty Ltd
- Credit authorisation (ACL)
- CR 45250 of Outsource Financial Pty Ltd
- Track record
- 30+ SMSF loan clients written
- Memberships
- FAAA, FBAA
This page is general information, not personal advice. The right lender for your fund depends on personal circumstances. See the Financial Services Guide and the Credit Guide for the full scope.
SMSF lender questions we get most.
Westpac, CBA, NAB, and ANZ exited or scaled back SMSF lending across 2018 to 2019, citing complexity and risk. The market is now served by specialist non-bank lenders. The four below are the ones most active in residential and commercial SMSF lending today.
Headline rate is one part of it. The bigger differences sit in LVR caps, the liquidity buffer required post-settlement, fund balance minimums, treatment of contribution income, and appetite for the property type. A file that gets a clean run at La Trobe might need a Pepper-style assessment, or vice versa.
Most of the SMSF lending market is residential. Commercial SMSF lending is narrower. La Trobe and Granite are the two we go to most for commercial business real property purchases. LVRs run lower than residential, generally 65 to 70 per cent.
Not always. With SMSF lending, the policy fit usually matters more than the rate. A file that needs a manual review or a deposit waiver might be better placed with a lender that is harder on rate but softer on policy. The shortlist comes with the reasoning.
Yes. If you have a relationship with a lender outside the panel and they have an SMSF product, we can review it. The point is to get the file to settlement on terms that suit the fund, not to push a particular lender.
Because the lender choice is part of the strategy, not separate from it. LVR drives contribution planning. Repayment frequency drives cashflow inside the fund. The advice and the loan are different pieces of the same conversation. Opes does both.
Read further on SMSF
- SMSF hubPillar overview of the SMSF service.
- SMSF property loansLRBA structure, bare trust, and eligibility.
- SMSF commercial propertyBusiness real property and related-party leasing.
- Using super to buy propertyPlain-language guide for first-time SMSF investors.
- SMSF borrowing guideRules, pitfalls, and when SMSF property does not suit.
- Retirement planning hubWhere SMSF lending fits in the wider retirement picture.
- SMSF property investment guideLong-form guide to strategy, structure, and trade-offs.
Want a shortlist for your fund?
A 30-minute call to read the file. Lender shortlist follows the strategy, not the other way around.