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Burwood is shaped by Deakin University and the Burwood Highway corridor, with a substantial rental market alongside established family housing. It draws investors, families and buyers who want the east without inner east prices.
Deakin’s presence makes Burwood a genuine investment market, and that brings specific lending considerations. Properties marketed to students, particularly smaller apartments and purpose-built student accommodation, are viewed cautiously by many lenders. Some will not lend on student-specific accommodation at all, and others cap their exposure within a building.
Minimum size thresholds matter here more than in most suburbs, because a fair proportion of the newer stock is compact. An apartment below around fifty square metres internally can require a substantially larger deposit, or be declined outright by lenders who are perfectly comfortable with a larger unit next door.
The family housing away from the corridor is a different market entirely, and finances conventionally. Established homes on decent blocks with the usual renovation and upgrade conversations.
Purpose-built student housing is declined by many lenders. Worth knowing before you commit, not after.
Compact stock near the university can fall below lender minimums. The difference is a much larger deposit.
Away from the corridor it is a conventional market, with standard upgrade and renovation lending.
Whatever stage you are at, there is a path through it. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Often not, or only at much reduced ratios. Purpose-built student accommodation with restricted titles or management agreements is declined by most mainstream lenders, because resale markets are thin. A standard apartment that happens to be rented to students is entirely different and finances normally, provided it meets size requirements.
Around fifty square metres of internal living area for most lenders’ standard terms, excluding balconies and car parking. Below that some reduce the maximum loan considerably, and others decline. A few will still lend at reduced ratios. Always check the internal measurement rather than the advertised total area.
Whether it suits your circumstances is a question for a licensed financial adviser or your accountant. What we can tell you is how lenders see it: rental demand is real, but student-heavy areas attract more cautious lending policy and smaller apartments are harder to finance. Those are facts you can plan around.
Lenders typically use around eighty per cent of the expected rent, to allow for vacancy and costs. Some are more conservative, particularly where the property is in a student-heavy area with seasonal demand. The remaining shortfall has to be covered by your other income, which is what determines your capacity.
Book a free consultation and we will walk you through your options, what you can borrow, and what it will cost.
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Copyright © LYDIAN FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD 2026. All Right Reserved.