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Victoria | Lydian platform, delivered in partnership with Clark Finance Group
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Fitzroy is Melbourne’s oldest suburb and it shows in the housing: Victorian terraces, converted warehouses, tiny workers cottages and apartments carved out of old industrial buildings. Almost none of it is standard, and the lending reflects that.
Fitzroy’s housing stock is the least standard of anywhere we work. Warehouse conversions and apartments in heritage buildings are common, and lenders treat them differently to a conventional apartment. Some are entirely comfortable; others reduce their maximum loan or decline where the building is unusual, the title is complex or the internal size is small.
Studio and one-bedroom apartments are plentiful here and many fall below the fifty square metre threshold that most lenders apply. Below that the deposit required can jump from ten per cent to thirty or forty, or the lender may not proceed at all. That single fact determines whether a lot of Fitzroy purchases are viable.
The terraces are their own proposition. Heritage overlays are extensive, blocks are narrow, and renovating means working within genuine constraints on a building that is often a hundred and fifty years old. Contingency in the contract is not optional.
Non-standard buildings and complex titles. Some lenders are fine, others reduce or decline.
Below fifty square metres the deposit can jump to thirty or forty per cent. Check the internal measurement.
Heritage overlays, narrow blocks, hundred-and-fifty-year-old structures. Budget real contingency.
Whatever stage you are at, there is a path through it. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Often yes, but not from every lender on the same terms. Converted industrial buildings can have unusual titles, shared structures or mixed commercial and residential use, all of which make some lenders cautious. Others treat a well-executed conversion as ordinary residential. Check before you offer rather than after.
Smaller apartments have thinner resale markets and more volatile values, so lenders limit their exposure. Around fifty square metres of internal living area is the common threshold. Below it, expect a much larger deposit or a decline. Measure the internal area rather than relying on the advertised total, which often includes balcony and car space.
Generally yes. Single-brick walls, no proper foundations, old services and heritage constraints on the facade all add cost, and access on narrow inner-city blocks makes everything slower. A contingency of fifteen to twenty per cent above the contract is realistic rather than pessimistic.
Yes, generally. A property with a shop below and a residence above sits between residential and commercial lending, and lenders vary widely in how they treat it. Some will lend on residential terms if the residential component dominates; others move it to commercial lending with a larger deposit and shorter term.
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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Lydian Financial Services Victoria
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Copyright © LYDIAN FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD 2026. All Right Reserved.