Your accountant built the structure.
Not every lender can read it.

Where structured files actually get stuck

Guarantee requirements. Most lenders require directors and often beneficiaries to guarantee the borrowing personally. Who must guarantee, and what that then does to their own borrowing capacity, varies by lender and is worth knowing before you apply rather than after.

Distribution income. If your income arrives as a trust distribution, lenders differ on how much of it they'll count, over what period, and whether they need the trust's financials as well as yours. Two lenders can read the same distribution very differently.

Corporate trustees. Some lenders price or assess differently where the trustee is a company. Some want the trust deed reviewed by their own legal team, which takes time you should build into your settlement date.

Retained profits. Money left in the company is invisible on your personal return. Some lenders will consider it. Most won't unless you show them properly.

The deed itself. Lenders read trust deeds. A deed that doesn't clearly permit the trustee to borrow and grant security will stop an application dead, and amending one mid-application is slow. We'd rather look at it in week one.

Multi-entity groups. Where income and debt sit across several entities, the assessment gets genuinely complicated — and this is where lender choice makes the largest difference to the outcome.

What we do about it

We read the structure once, properly, and then match it to lenders whose credit policy actually accommodates it. We deal with your accountant directly rather than sending you back and forth as a courier. And we tell you up front where a structure will constrain the borrowing, so you can make an informed decision with your accountant about whether that constraint is worth what the structure is protecting.

We don't advise on whether your structure is right. That's your accountant's and your lawyer's territory, and we won't pretend otherwise. What we do is tell you plainly what the lending market will and won't support given the structure you have.

A note for investors

If you're holding property in a trust or company, be aware that the tax settings for residential investment property are changing. From 1 July 2027, negative gearing on established residential investment properties will be limited: losses on properties acquired after 7:30pm on 12 May 2026 will only be deductible against residential property income, not against other income. Properties held at that date are grandfathered. New builds are treated differently, and the capital gains tax discount is being replaced by cost base indexation and a minimum tax rate from the same date.

The restriction applies to individuals, partnerships, companies and most trusts. What it means for your structure specifically is a question for your accountant — but it's a question worth asking now, because it may affect how you want the next purchase held.