Bendigo Bank Bridging Loans for Brokers 2026

Bendigo Bank Bridging Availability and Channel

Bendigo Bank’s next-home page describes bridging finance for both an unsold home and a sale that settles after the purchase. Its bridging target market determination names Bendigo Bank and Community Bank branches, the contact centre, Mobile Relationship Managers and Business Bankers as its distribution channels.

That document doesn’t authorise a broker distribution channel for this product. A broker’s accreditation for other Bendigo Bank home loans doesn’t establish bridging access. Ask Partner Assist or your business development manager (BDM) to confirm the product and permitted referral or application route for the file.

Partner Assist’s published number is 1300 791 679.

For a direct-bank enquiry, use Bendigo Bank’s home-loan enquiry form or call 1300 236 344. Record who will handle the application and which party receives decisions and settlement instructions.

The target market determination identifies the issuer as Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited. That legal name doesn’t make Adelaide Bank-branded or separately distributed group loans interchangeable with the Bendigo Bridging Home Loan. Keep the brand, product name and distribution channel together in the scenario request.

Bendigo Bank Borrower, Security and Sale Fit

The published bridging product targets individuals purchasing an established residential property or constructing a dwelling before selling an existing property. It covers owner-occupied and residential investment use. The stated maximum bridging period is six months for an established property and 12 months for construction.

Bendigo’s bridging fact sheet limits the exit to selling one property. It caps combined peak debt, including capitalised interest, at 80% of the combined property values. End debt must satisfy standard lending requirements.

There is a boundary to resolve before relying on an exact 80% result. The next-home page says bridging requires a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) below 80%, inclusive of lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). Obtain Bendigo’s written treatment of that boundary and the valuation basis for this transaction.

Prepare the file around these conditions, recording unresolved items for written lender confirmation:

• Obtain acceptance of the applicants, ownership structure and intended use under this product.
• Identify the employment or business income Bendigo accepts, with its evidence requirements and assessment adjustments.
• Establish both properties’ acceptability by location, type, condition and title. Ask which lender-ordered valuations are required.
• Confirm whether the existing mortgage must be refinanced and what mortgage priority or other security arrangements must be completed.
• Reconcile purchase funding, existing payout and costs after the client’s available cash contribution.
• Agree on accepted net sale proceeds after selling costs and whether the expected settlement fits the approved term.

An agent’s appraisal supports the sale discussion, but keep it separate from the lender’s accepted valuation. A sale contract also needs its conditions and settlement timing recorded. Available equity alone doesn’t establish the client’s capacity to repay the remaining loan.

For the policy questions, Bulma’s Policy Advisor quotes the lender wording behind its answers, which you can retain with your file notes. The transaction still needs Bendigo’s own credit decision and agreed funding conditions.

Peak Debt, End Debt and Repayment Assessment

Bendigo’s fact sheet applies standard lending criteria to proposed end debt, while separately limiting peak exposure against both properties. Peak debt is the combined amount owed during the overlap. End debt is the amount left after sale proceeds reduce that debt.

Fictional Funding Example

These are fictional entered assumptions for one established-property transaction. They aren’t Bendigo rates, fees, valuations or an approved borrowing amount. Assume the sale settles four months after the purchase.

The model assumes financed purchase costs and an allowance for capitalised charges. Bendigo must confirm which costs can be added to the facility.

Assume Bendigo accepts combined security values of $1,380,000. The modelled peak LVR is about 71.0%, and the end LVR against the $720,000 retained property is 50%.

Those calculations establish exposure only. Bendigo must also accept the security values and assess the $360,000 end debt under its lending criteria.

The $620,000 sale figure is net of selling costs but still includes money needed to clear the existing mortgage. Count that payout once. Using proceeds after the mortgage payout against combined peak debt would count the existing payout twice and overstate end debt.

Capitalised Interest and Nil End Debt

Bendigo’s published structure adds interest to the bridging balance and requires no repayments on that bridging loan during the bridging period.

Capitalisation increases debt. Deferred repayments describe when cash payments are due, while paying interest from income would be a different cash-flow arrangement.

The fact sheet permits the sale to clear the bridging loan in full, so an exit with nil end debt is within the described structure. It also permits a remaining balance to convert to an agreed end loan. Have Bendigo document which exit applies and whether any separate existing loan still requires repayments.

Prepare the Evidence and Linked Settlements

Prepare one purchase-and-sale file, then obtain the handling banker’s document list for the confirmed bridging route. The Home Loan Booklet makes funding conditional on required security documents, insurance and any required valuation or advice certificates. The Loan Schedule supplies the transaction-specific terms.

Use this preparation checklist to obtain a complete lender request:

• Identity documents and the consents Bendigo requires for each applicant and security provider.
• Income evidence matched to the accepted employment, business or other income sources, plus living expenses and liabilities.
• Current mortgage statements and an existing-lender payout estimate, including any discharge or fixed-rate costs.
• The purchase contract, deposit evidence and a reconciliation of the client’s contribution and funds needed at settlement.
• Both property details and lender-accepted valuations, with title or security information requested by Bendigo.
• The sale contract if sold, or the proposed sale strategy and appraisal if unsold, plus selling costs and expected net proceeds.
• An exit calculation showing the end debt, its repayment capacity and a lower-sale-price case.
• Building contracts, approvals and progress information if the proposal includes construction, as specified by the handling banker.

These are preparation items. Bendigo must identify the exact documents, evidence periods and approval conditions it requires for this application. A standard broker-channel checklist doesn’t establish the requirements for a directly distributed bridging facility.

Keep the handoffs explicit:

1. The broker sends the defined scenario to the authorised lender contact. That contact confirms the product, channel and file requirements.
2. Bendigo assesses the application and communicates any conditional decision. The handling banker identifies outstanding conditions and who must satisfy them.
3. The banker and conveyancer reconcile the purchase settlement figures. Bendigo confirms funding readiness after its conditions are met.
4. The conveyancer coordinates the sale settlement with the existing mortgagee and Bendigo. The fact sheet directs sale proceeds to the existing home loan first, where applicable.
5. Bendigo confirms the remaining payout allocation and either full discharge or the agreed end loan. For conversion, its fact sheet requires an Application to Vary an Existing Consumer Facility and a new Home Loan Schedule.

Check the completed settlement statements against the model. The actual debt reduction, security release and ongoing repayments must match the lender’s final instructions.

Costs, a Delayed Sale and an Unavailable Product

Bendigo’s bridging loan has a variable rate and capitalised interest, so a longer overlap increases the debt that the sale must reduce. Its Home Loan Booklet calculates interest daily on the account balance and permits monthly interest debits. Read that booklet with the issued Loan Schedule for the applicable calculation and debit terms.

Bendigo’s lending fee guide lists potential application, search, valuation and document preparation charges. It also covers settlement and agent lodgement, relevant construction costs, ongoing service charges, variations and discharge. Obtain the charges applicable to this facility and add conveyancing, government charges and selling costs to the transaction budget.

Return to the fictional example. If sale proceeds after selling costs fall from $620,000 to $580,000, end debt rises from $360,000 to $400,000.

If settlement instead takes six months, assume a further fictional $12,000 of capitalised charges. Peak debt becomes $992,000 and end debt becomes $412,000.

That delayed case has a peak LVR of about 71.9% and an end LVR of about 57.2%, using the same assumed valuations. Bendigo would need to assess the higher end debt and confirm the remaining interest allowance.

The delayed sale now uses the full published six-month established-property period. Staying below an exposure limit doesn’t extend the approved term.

The target market determination makes the bridging balance due at the end of the bridging period or sale, whichever occurs first. If the expected sale slips, contact the handling banker before expiry with updated sale evidence and revised debt figures. Obtain a written decision on any revised term, limit or repayment arrangement before relying on it.

If the required channel is unavailable or Bendigo declines the proposal, remove that funding assumption before the client commits to the purchase. Recalculate selling first or negotiating later purchase settlement, including temporary accommodation and any deposit or contract consequences. Another funding route needs its own confirmed availability, affordability assessment and written terms before it can replace Bendigo in the plan.