Bluestone: commercial property and SMSF loans for borrowers outside bank policy

Picture a plumber who has traded for four years, owes the ATO about $60k after a rough stretch, and wants to stop paying rent by buying a small warehouse unit. A major bank will want two years of tax returns, a clean ATO account and a deposit untouched by the tax debt. That owner is exactly the borrower Bluestone was built around.

Bluestone is a specialist non-bank lender headquartered in Sydney, best known for home loans to people who sit outside standard bank policy: self-employed earners, borrowers with credit blemishes and people with unusual income. For business owners, its relevant product is a commercial property loan, plus an SMSF loan that can hold commercial premises. Everything below comes from Bluestone’s website as at October 2026.

Bluestone at a glance

Feature	What Bluestone publishes
Maximum loan	$3m
Maximum LVR	80%
Maximum term	30 years
Interest-only	Up to 5 years
Income evidence	Traditional, or alt-doc for self-employed borrowers
Debt consolidation	Unlimited, including business and ATO debts
Offset	Sub-account for select borrowers
Eligible borrowers	Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, 18 and over

The property list is broad for a lender of this size: warehouses, retail shops, offices, strata office suites, light industrial units, small warehouses and mixed residential and commercial buildings. You can buy to occupy, buy to invest, refinance an existing commercial loan, or draw equity for business purposes. Our commercial property loans page explains how these loans are usually structured and valued.

What makes Bluestone different for business borrowers?

Three details on its commercial page are worth singling out.

The alt-doc route. Bluestone lets self-employed applicants evidence income with six months of BAS, six months of business bank statements, an accountant’s letter or tax returns. It says the acceptable mix depends on how long the business has been operating. For an owner whose accountant is a year behind, that can be the difference between applying now and waiting for next year’s returns. Our guide to low doc business loans covers how lenders check income when full financials aren’t ready.

ATO debt can be rolled in. Bluestone describes its debt consolidation as unlimited and names business and ATO debts specifically. Many lenders treat an ATO debt as a reason to stop; this one treats it as something the loan can clear, provided the numbers still fit inside 80% of the property’s value. If tax debt is your main obstacle, read ATO tax debt business loans as well.

Long term, short interest-only window. Up to 30 years keeps repayments low, and up to five years interest-only can protect cash flow while a newly bought premises settles in. After that window, the loan moves to principal and interest, so model both stages.

Not sure whether your income evidence will satisfy a lender like Bluestone? Tell us what you have on hand and we’ll tell you which lender types are realistic.

SMSF borrowers: the 10 August 2026 change

Bluestone’s SMSF loan accepts residential and commercial property, up to $3m and 80% LVR, for new or established funds. Its published conditions include a non-trading corporate trustee, at least $200k in fund net assets before the purchase or refinance, up to six members buying together and no minimum fund liquidity.

The timing matters. Bluestone notes that residential purchases need a contract exchanged before 10 August 2026. That lines up with the ATO’s guidance on new rules for limited recourse borrowing: arrangements entered into from that date can only buy real property that is business real property. Commercial premises leased to your own business, at market rent, are the classic example. Existing arrangements and their refinances are unaffected. Our SMSF commercial property loans page and the SMSF vs company purchase comparison walk through the trade-offs.

Who Bluestone suits, and who should look elsewhere

A good match is likely if you:

• are self-employed with property to buy or refinance, and your income is real but awkward to document;
• carry business or ATO debts you’d like to fold into one long-term loan;
• want an owner-occupied warehouse, shop or office within the $3m limit; or
• run an SMSF that wants to buy premises your business will lease.

It’s the wrong tool if you need working capital without property, a revolving facility, equipment finance or anything above $3m. Bluestone publishes none of those. And if your income is straightforward and your credit clean, check a bank first. Banks are often the cheapest money available, and our bank vs non-bank lender comparison explains when the extra cost of a specialist is worth paying.

Questions to put to Bluestone or your broker

1. Is a risk-based loading applied to my file? Bluestone’s own page tells borrowers to confirm this with their broker.
2. What’s the total cost in dollars over the interest-only period, and over the full term?
3. How will the valuer treat my property type? Specialised or mixed-use buildings can value conservatively.
4. Which income documents count for my trading history? Get the list before you gather paperwork.
5. If my ATO debt is consolidated, does the lender pay the ATO directly at settlement?

Run your target loan through the LVR calculator before those conversations, so you know how much room the property gives you.

If Bluestone says no

A decline usually traces back to one of a few causes, and each has a next step:

• The LVR doesn’t work: adding a second property as security may help. See business loans against commercial property.
• Income evidence is too thin even for alt-doc: private lenders lean on the property and the exit plan rather than income. Our caveat loans and second mortgage business loans pages explain the short-term options.
• You need cash, not premises: consider unsecured business loans or a business line of credit.
• The bank said no first: our declined by the bank guide sets out the order to try things in.

Lenders working in similar territory include Liberty, Pepper Money and La Trobe Financial. Each has its own appetite for self-employed and credit-impaired borrowers.

Buying premises with awkward paperwork? Start with a conversation

Bluestone shows that a lender will look past a missing tax return or an ATO balance when there’s solid property behind the loan. Whether it’s the best lender for you depends on the building, your figures and how quickly you need to settle.

Our form takes around a minute. No credit enquiry is lodged when you send it, and we keep your file in-house instead of circulating it to a crowd of lenders. A member of our team reads it, then rings to talk about the warehouse, shop or office you have in mind. Precise numbers on turnover, tax owing and property value help us name the right lender on the first call.

Check my commercial property options →