La Trobe Financial vs Pepper Money: commercial property loans for business owners

Two numbers do most of the work in this comparison: how much you want to borrow, and how much of the property’s value that represents. La Trobe Financial will go far bigger. Pepper Money will go a little deeper. Almost everything else follows from where your deal sits on those two scales.

Both are established Australian non-bank lenders that take commercial property as security and are comfortable with self-employed borrowers whose income doesn’t look tidy on paper. Product details below come from each lender’s website as at October 2026.

How do the two lenders stack up?

	La Trobe Financial	Pepper Money
Lending since	1952	Around 25 years, by its own description
Commercial loan range	$100k minimum; up to $50m at 65% LVR, $25m at 70%, $3m at 75%	Up to $5m ($3m against residential security)
Maximum LVR	75%	Up to 80%, varying with documentation and property type
Term	Up to 30 years; interest-only up to 5 years	1 to 30 years
Paperwork routes	Full doc, lite doc (accountant’s letter and declaration), lease doc (full lease agreement)	Full doc using one year’s tax return, or alt doc
Development	Loans to $50m at 65% LVR or $5m at 70%, within 80% of total development cost, up to 3 years interest-only	Not offered
Other property loans	Rural (business use, over 100 acres), residual stock, SMSF commercial	SMSF loans to $5m on business real property
Equipment	Not part of the published business range	Asset finance after two years’ ABN registration
Account features	No annual review requirement	Full offset sub-account, free online redraw, cash-out, debt consolidation including tax debts

Where does La Trobe have the edge?

Big tickets. La Trobe’s commercial loans scale to $50m on a 65% LVR. For a business owner buying a large warehouse, a strata of offices or a mixed portfolio, Pepper’s $5m ceiling simply isn’t enough.

Three ways to prove income. Its lite doc product accepts an accountant’s letter and a borrower declaration, and its lease doc product leans on a full lease agreement over the property. If your building is let to a solid tenant on a long lease, lease doc can carry the loan even when the business’s own financials are behind. Our self-employed business loans guide covers what lenders usually want in each case.

Development and specialist assets. La Trobe funds small to medium multi-dwelling and commercial construction, rural holdings of over 100 acres used for business, and finished-but-unsold units through a residual stock loan. Pepper’s published range doesn’t touch any of these. See construction and development finance and residual stock loans for how those deals are assessed.

No annual review. La Trobe states that its commercial loans carry no annual review requirement, which removes one of the more stressful features of some bank commercial facilities.

Where does Pepper Money have the edge?

A higher LVR on mid-sized deals. Pepper lends up to 80% of value, against La Trobe’s 75% maximum. On a $2m building, that five-point difference means roughly $100k less you need to find in cash or other security. Check your own numbers with the LVR calculator.

Features that cut interest. A full offset sub-account and free online redraw mean surplus cash sitting in the business can reduce the interest you pay without being locked away. For a business with lumpy receipts, that’s real money over a year.

One year of tax returns. Pepper’s full doc option asks for just one year’s return, helpful for an owner whose latest year is strong and the year before was not.

Equipment under the same roof. Pepper’s asset finance covers trucks, trailers, excavators, forklifts, tractors, fit-outs, dental chairs, X-ray machines and commercial solar, once your ABN is two years old. La Trobe’s business range is property-only.

A wide property list. Pepper names boarding houses, industrial units, medical suites, childcare facilities, warehouses and student accommodation among the properties it considers.

Somewhere in between, or unsure your property type fits either? Run your deal past us. It’s a one-minute form and no credit enquiry is lodged for asking.

A worked comparison

An illustrative scenario only. A physiotherapist and their spouse want to buy the medical suite they’ve leased for six years, valued at $1.6m, and they’ve saved $350k. They’d borrow $1.25m, an LVR of about 78%.

• La Trobe caps loans under $3m at 75% LVR, or $1.2m on this valuation. The couple would need an extra $50k in cash or a second security.
• Pepper can lend up to 80% on suitable commercial property, so $1.25m sits inside its limit, subject to the property type, documentation and assessment.

Now change the deal: a manufacturer buying a $12m factory with $4.5m of equity. Pepper’s $5m cap rules it out, while La Trobe’s 65% tier would cover a loan of about $7.5m. Same question, opposite answer.

What will the loan cost?

We never publish interest rates, and both lenders advertise “from” pricing that depends on LVR, loan size and risk grade. La Trobe also lists an application fee calculated as a percentage of the loan, plus valuation and legal costs. Ask each lender for a written offer and compare the total dollars: interest over a realistic holding period, every fee, and what it costs to refinance out in three or five years. The loan cost comparison calculator puts two offers side by side.

Checklist before you choose

1. What’s the loan amount, and is it above $5m?
2. What LVR does it create, and can you reach 75% or need 80%?
3. Will you prove income with tax returns, an accountant’s letter, or a lease?
4. Is the property standard commercial, rural, a development site or unsold stock?
5. Do you also need equipment financed?
6. Would an offset account reduce your costs meaningfully?

Still deciding between non-banks? Our Pepper Money vs Liberty comparison and the profiles of La Trobe Financial and Pepper Money go deeper. If your need is shorter-term, a bridging loan may suit better than either.

Got a property in mind? Let’s match it to a lender

The right non-bank for a commercial deal usually comes down to a few specifics: the building, the deposit, how you’ll prove income and how quickly you need to settle. Send them to us and we’ll do the comparing. Our form needs roughly sixty seconds, and your credit report stays clean because nothing is checked at that stage. Your file isn’t blasted out to every financier we know; one of our team reads it and gives you a call. Give us precise figures for the valuation, any existing debt and how you document income. That way the lender we name fits before you spend money on valuations.

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