Finance for construction, shaped around how you get paid.

Yes. Builders with two years of ABN history and clean credit are commonly approved for utes, trucks, excavators and site equipment on low documentation up to around $150,000 to $250,000, often within 24 hours. Larger plant and businesses under two years need financials or a deposit. Lyft Money checks fit across the panel before anything is submitted.

Consistent claim income in the bank statements, a work-in-hand schedule or signed contracts, builder’s licence and insurances, tax up to date and a clean credit file. Lenders are cautious about the industry, so a broker who presents the pipeline and margins clearly makes a real difference to approval and pricing.

Most builders use a line of credit or invoice finance against certified progress claims, so wages, subcontractors and materials are covered while the claim sits 30 to 60 days in arrears. Invoice finance advances up to 80 to 90 per cent of a certified claim within a day or two; a line of credit is drawn as needed and repaid as claims land. Both are structured around the payment terms in your contracts.

Retentions themselves are rarely financed directly because they are contingent, but a working capital facility sized to your typical retention exposure covers the cash they tie up until practical completion and the end of defects liability. Some invoice financiers will consider retention releases as receivables once they are certified. Your broker structures the facility around your contract terms.

Often no deposit is required, particularly for established businesses buying standard assets from a dealer. A deposit is more likely where the business is new, the asset is older or specialised, the credit profile is weaker, or the amount is large relative to turnover. Deposits typically range from around 10% to 30% in those cases. Putting money in reduces the amount financed and can improve the terms offered, but it is not always necessary.

Yes, that is a sale and leaseback. You sell an unencumbered asset to a financier and lease or finance it back, receiving the sale proceeds as working capital while keeping the asset in use. Lenders will want proof you own it outright, a valuation, and evidence the funds are for a legitimate business purpose. It is a useful option when capital is tied up in plant, but it converts an owned asset into a monthly commitment, so the cash flow effect needs checking first.

Terms usually run from 12 to 84 months. The ceiling is generally set by the expected working life of the asset: heavy earthmoving and trucks often stretch to five or seven years, while IT hardware and point-of-sale systems are commonly kept to two or three. Lenders also look at the age of the asset at the end of the term, so a ten-year-old machine will attract a shorter term than a new one. Longer terms lower repayments and raise total interest.

Yes. A master facility agreement lets a lender approve an overall limit, then draw down individual assets against it using a commitment schedule for each one. Each drawdown has its own term and repayment, but you avoid re-applying every time you buy. It suits businesses buying regularly through the year. Limits are usually reviewed annually and the lender can decline a particular asset even where the limit is available.

It varies by lender and product. Many unsecured business lenders want at least six to twelve months of trading, while some asset finance lenders will consider a new ABN where the director has industry experience, a clean credit file and often property ownership or a deposit. Registration for GST is frequently expected once turnover reaches the threshold. A short ABN history is not an automatic decline, but it narrows the panel and usually affects the rate and structure offered.

No. Plenty of finance is written for non-property owners, especially asset finance where the equipment itself is the security, and unsecured lending assessed on cash flow. That said, property ownership widens the panel and often improves pricing, because it gives a lender an additional avenue if things go wrong. If you do not own property, expect more weight on trading history, bank conduct and the quality of the asset being financed.