Key Takeaways
- Banks often decline a complex structure mortgage because trusts, companies and layered entities take more work to assess, raise deed and enforceability questions, and can be used to sidestep standard serviceability testing.
- Across late 2025 and into 2026, Macquarie, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ tightened or paused trust and company lending, so the lender that said yes last year may not today.
- A decline is usually about lender fit and presentation, not a permanent no, since another lender or a specialist may still consider the same structure.
- Clear income evidence, a current trust deed, sorted guarantees and the right lender panel give a structured application a realistic path to approval.
A complex structure mortgage asks a lender to look past a single payslip and read who owns the property, who earns the income and who stands behind the debt. A trust or company on the title can protect assets, support estate planning and suit an investment plan, yet it can also turn a straightforward purchase into a knock-back. When any part of that picture is unclear, the answer is often no.
That answer has become more common. Across late 2025 and into 2026, several major lenders tightened or paused lending to trusts and companies, and the rules now shift from one bank to the next. A borrower with a sound position can still be declined simply because the application landed at a lender whose policy no longer fits the structure. Working with a complex structure loan broker who tracks these policies can help you find a lender that reads the whole picture rather than the paperwork alone.
What Lenders See as a Complex Structure Mortgage
Lenders group borrowers by how easily the income and ownership can be verified. A salaried couple buying in their own names sits at the simple end. Certain arrangements usually move an application into more detailed assessment, because more people, entities and documents sit between the borrower and the money:
Trust and Corporate Trustee Ownership
A discretionary or family trust can hold the property while a trustee signs and beneficiaries receive income under the trust deed. Where a company acts as the trustee, the lender also reviews that company, its directors and its resolutions. The property may be ordinary residential real estate, but the ownership behind it is not, which is usually where the extra scrutiny begins.
Company and Multi-Entity Borrowing
Some borrowers buy through a company, or support the application with income that flows through several related businesses. The lender then needs a company extract from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), financial statements and a clear view of directors, shareholders and any debts the entities carry. Income spread across two or three entities is harder to trace than a single wage, and each link adds another check for the lender.
Self-Managed Super Fund Arrangements
Buying inside a self-managed super fund (SMSF) usually relies on a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA), a bare trust and its own compliance rules. From 10 August 2026, new LRBAs for residential property are banned, so this route now applies mainly to commercial or business real property, plus existing arrangements that are refinanced. Fewer lenders offer company and SMSF loans, and the ones that do apply tighter deposit and documentation settings. A broker can confirm which lenders remain active before you commit, since the panel is already narrow.
Mixed Personal and Business Income
Self-employed borrowers often draw a wage, take dividends and leave profit in the business. A lender may read each of those differently, and may use the lower of two years or a more cautious figure. The structure might be sensible for tax, but it can make a home loan read as complex even when the underlying income is genuinely strong.
Why Banks Decline Complex Structures
A decline rarely means the borrower cannot afford the loan. More often it reflects how a lender weighs the extra effort, risk and uncertainty that a structure brings. Four reasons stand out:
Extra Assessment Work and Lower Margins
A structured application takes longer to assess. Someone has to read the trust deed, check the company extract, confirm who can sign and trace income across entities. For a loan of the same size, that extra work makes the file less profitable, so some lenders choose not to offer these loans, or move them to a business banking team where pricing and fees can be higher. The result is a smaller pool of willing lenders before the borrower has even been assessed.
Trust Deed and Enforceability Concerns
A lender needs to know the trustee has clear power to borrow, mortgage the property and give guarantees. Where a deed is old, incomplete or ambiguous, the lender may worry that the loan could be hard to enforce if repayments stop. Some lenders also weigh the chance that the tax treatment of trusts may change over time, which adds further caution.
Serviceability Buffer Circumvention Risk
Lenders must check that a borrower could still manage repayments if rates rose by three percentage points, a rule set by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Some trust arrangements have been used to understate total commitments and slip past that test, which regulators and banks now watch closely. APRA has held that buffer at that level and continued to flag high household debt as a system risk, so lenders are wary of structures that appear built mainly to stretch capacity.
Anti-Money-Laundering Verification Demands
New anti-money-laundering rules require lenders to carry out extra checks on who ultimately controls a trust or company. That verification adds time and cost to every structured application. Rather than build the extra process, some lenders have narrowed their appetite for these borrowers.
How Lender Policy Has Tightened in 2026
What changed recently is how far the major lenders have pulled back, largely in response to borrowing strategies promoted online:
Macquarie’s Pause on Trust and Company Loans
In late 2025, Macquarie paused new home loan applications where the borrower is a trust or company. For many structured buyers, that closed a familiar pathway. The bank pointed to social media strategies aimed at maximising borrowing through trusts, along with the added complexity of the new verification rules, as reasons for stepping back.
Commonwealth Bank’s Existing-Relationship Rule
Commonwealth Bank followed by restricting broker-introduced trust and company applications to borrowers who have held a product with the bank for at least six months. A new customer without that history may be declined at the door, regardless of income. The bank framed this as a response to market conditions rather than a full withdrawal, though it narrowed the options for many investors.
Westpac’s Move to Specialist Channels
In December 2025, Westpac removed company and corporate trustee home loans from its retail bank, keeping them available only through its business and private wealth channels. Borrowers there generally need most of their income to come from self-employment or to meet private wealth criteria, so the retail path many structured buyers once used has narrowed.
ANZ’s Existing-Customer and Loan-to-Value Limits
By early 2026, ANZ confirmed it would consider trust or company lending for existing customers only, and typically cap the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) at 70%. Borrowers usually need to be a director of the borrowing entity, provide a personal guarantee and hold a combined 25% or greater stake.
APRA’s Broader Debt-to-Income Focus
Behind these bank moves sits the regulator. Investors have made up more than 40% of new mortgage lending in recent quarters, and from February 2026 APRA has limited how much new lending banks can write at high debt-to-income levels. That backdrop keeps pressure on any structure that looks like a route around standard borrowing limits. For a structured borrower, the file now needs to stand on its own merits rather than rely on a gap in policy.
General guide only. Lender policies, LVR limits and eligibility rules change often and differ by lender, so current settings should be confirmed before you apply.
The Strategies That Now Trigger a Decline
Not every structure raises a red flag. Lenders have pulled back hardest on arrangements that look designed to borrow more than a standard assessment would allow. Three patterns tend to draw scrutiny:
Promoting “Unlimited Borrowing” Online
A wave of online content has promoted trusts and companies as a way to unlock endless finance. Lenders have noticed, and applications that echo those strategies now face tougher questions. A structure chosen for a genuine tax, asset protection or succession reason reads very differently from one chosen only to borrow more.
Recycling Trusts to Dodge Stress Tests
Opening a fresh trust each time borrowing capacity runs out, so existing commitments are not fully counted, is exactly the behaviour regulators want to curb. Lenders increasingly assess total debt across related entities rather than one trust in isolation. The gap that made this possible is closing, and files that rely on it are more likely to be knocked back.
Building Structures to Stretch Capacity
Where a company or trust adds no real commercial or family purpose and exists mainly to lift borrowing power, lenders are more likely to decline. A structure with a clear commercial or family reason behind it sits on firmer ground and is easier to approve.
How to Get a Complex Structure Mortgage Approved
A decline at one lender is rarely the end of the road. The same file can often succeed elsewhere:
Matching Your Structure to the Right Lender
Lender appetite for trusts and companies now varies widely, so the first task is finding a lender whose current policy fits your exact setup. Comparing a panel through a mortgage broker versus a bank gives you more options than approaching a single lender when the structure is unusual.
Presenting Income the Way Lenders Read It
Income that moves through a business or trust should be easy to follow on paper. Two years of consistent financial statements, tax returns and a short accountant letter explaining distributions or add-backs can turn a confusing picture into a clear one. Where income is irregular, expect the lender to lean on a more cautious figure, so it helps to show the strongest complete year of evidence. Consistency across the tax returns, financial statements and bank statements counts for a lot in a lender’s decision.
Preparing a Complete Document Pack Early
Missing or outdated documents cause more delays than weak income. A current trust deed with any variations, the company extract, identification for every director, trustee and guarantor, and recent financials give the lender what it needs in one pass. A broker can trim the checklist to what your specific lender actually requires, so you are not chasing paperwork that will never be read.
Sorting the Guarantee and Legal Position
Most structured loans require directors or trustees to guarantee the debt, which creates personal liability if the entity cannot pay. Understanding that exposure before signing, with legal advice where needed, protects you and reassures the lender that everyone knows their obligations. A guarantee that is clean and clearly understood rarely holds an application up.
Considering Specialist and Non-Bank Lenders
When the major banks say no, specialist and non-bank lenders often still say yes, provided the story is sound and the documents are complete. Pricing may sit a little higher, but a well-priced loan from a regulated lender with a clear exit plan can be a sensible step rather than a compromise.
Lining Up Your Advice Team Before You Apply
A structured purchase usually works better when the broker, accountant and solicitor are talking early rather than after a problem appears. The accountant can confirm how income should be read, the solicitor can check the deed and guarantees, and the broker can match all of it to a lender that fits. Bringing that team together before you sign a contract gives the application a coherent story and reduces the last-minute surprises that can stall an otherwise sound approval.
A structured file that moves smoothly usually brings together a few essentials:
- Current trust deed or company constitution that clearly allows the borrowing
- Two years of financial statements and tax returns for each entity involved
- Short accountant letter explaining income, distributions or add-backs
- Clear guarantee arrangements that every guarantor understands
- Deposit and LVR position that sits inside the chosen lender’s limits
- Lender shortlisted for its current appetite for your structure
General guide only. The exact requirements depend on the lender and your circumstances, and figures such as deposit and LVR limits can change.
Working With a Broker on Complex Structures
Complex structure lending rewards preparation and the right match. Rather than testing your structure against one bank’s policy, a broker can pre-assess several lenders, prepare the file to each lender’s standard and translate your ownership and income into terms a credit team can approve.
As Melbourne mortgage brokers, Loanworx Group reviews the structure first, explains what each lender is likely to ask and helps prepare a tailored application with the right evidence behind it. That review is worth doing before you sign, whether a trust, company or SMSF purchase has already stalled or you simply want to check the structure first. Approached this way, a complex structure stops being a reason for a decline and becomes an application you can put forward with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Why do banks decline home loans for trusts and companies?
Most declines come down to effort, risk and fit rather than affordability. A structured file takes longer to assess, raises questions about the trust deed and guarantees, and may be seen as a way to borrow beyond standard limits. When a particular lender is not comfortable with one of those points, it may decline even though another lender would approve the same borrower.
2. Can I still get a complex structure mortgage after the recent lender changes?
In many cases, yes. While Macquarie paused these loans and Commonwealth Bank and ANZ added conditions, other banks, specialist lenders and non-bank lenders continue to consider trust and company borrowers. The task is finding a current match, which is harder to do alone than with a panel to compare.
3. Does borrowing through a trust reduce my borrowing power now?
It can. Lenders increasingly count debt held across related entities and assess total commitments more strictly, so a trust no longer sidesteps serviceability the way some online strategies once suggested. Your capacity depends on income, existing debts and the specific lender’s rules rather than the structure alone.
4. Are non-bank lenders a safe choice for a structured loan?
Regulated non-bank lenders can be a sound option when a major bank declines, provided the terms are clear and the loan suits your plan. Pricing may be slightly higher, and a clear exit or review point matters. Weighing the total cost and features, not only the rate, is the sensible way to compare.
5. Will a trust or company slow down my approval?
It often adds some time, mainly because of extra documents and, where needed, solicitor review of the deed or guarantees. Having a current deed, complete financials and identification ready for everyone involved can keep the timeline closer to a standard application. Building in extra time rather than rushing a tight settlement keeps the process calmer.
6. Do I need to change my structure to get approved?
Not usually. A sound structure set up for genuine reasons rarely needs changing just to borrow. The more useful step is matching it to a lender that accepts it and presenting it clearly, with any tax or legal questions handled by your accountant or solicitor. A trusted broker can help you weigh the options before you make any changes.
This article is general information only and does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Lending approval, interest rates, fees and policies depend on lender assessment and can change. Consider speaking with a qualified mortgage broker, accountant, solicitor or financial adviser before acting on anything here or making decisions about a trust, company or complex structure home loan.
