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Written for pub, hotel and bar buyers
Buying a pub is three purchases: the building, the trade and the permissions to run it.
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Pubs, bars and nightclubs turn over $21.3 billion a year across 6,853 businesses at an average margin of 8.1%, and gaming supplies 18.7% of that revenue (IBISWorld, June 2026). Prevail Finance arranges finance for buyers of pubs, hotels and bars across Australia, from $700,000: freehold going concern, leasehold or freehold investment. A lender values the trade on the earnings a new owner can maintain, discounts the gaming for the reforms under way, and will not settle until the regulators have approved you. Get those three right and the deposit, the loan and the offer follow.
Subject to lender criteria, security position and eligibility. Lender positions in writing, April to October 2026. Figures on this page reviewed quarterly, last reviewed November 2026. Next review: February 2027.
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On this page
The industry, in numbers
Drinks and meals bring the crowd. The machines carry the margin, and they are the line being regulated.
Revenue across pubs, bars and nightclubs is about $21.3 billion in 2025-26, down 0.9% on the year, and forecast to reach $23.3 billion by 2030-31. There are 10,308 venues run by 6,853 businesses: the four largest groups hold about 22% of revenue and the rest is spread across other groups and single-venue owners, so the pub you are shown is often being sold by the family that runs it. Total alcohol available for consumption fell 3.7% in 2023-24, the largest single-year drop on record, and venues replaced volume with price, food and low-alcohol drinks.
| Measure | Industry | What it means for your deal |
|---|---|---|
| Where the revenue comes from | Bar 36.5%, meals 19.6%, takeaway 19.4%, gaming 18.7% | IBISWorld notes that machines earn relatively high margins and need comparatively little labour, so in a gaming venue the gaming line carries more of the profit than its share of revenue suggests. Ask for every line by month, not one total. |
| Profit margin | 8.1% | Listings quote earnings before the owner’s wage, before the family’s unpaid shifts and often before a market rent. Rebuild before you compare. |
| Biggest costs | 37.5% and 20.2% | Purchases take 37.5% of revenue and wages 20.2%, and IBISWorld reports rent, insurance and energy taking a growing share of revenue. A lease review or a power contract can move the year. |
| Gearing and cover | 1.5 debt to net worth; 7.1 times interest cover (2024) | A property-heavy trade: fixed assets are 88% of the industry’s total assets. Lenders lend against the building where there is one, and against the cash flow where there is not. |
| Gross margin | 61.0% (2024) | The industry benchmark across bar, food and gaming. A bar or kitchen running well below its own benchmark is mispriced, overstaffed or losing stock, and each is fixable only if you see it before you buy. |
IBISWorld, Pubs, Bars & Nightclubs in Australia (H4520), June 2026; the four largest groups are Endeavour (10.8%), Australian Venue Co (6.5%), Merivale (3.4%) and Redcape (1.6%). Prevail’s reading in the third column. General information only, not a valuation and not advice about any particular business.
Where the gaming risk sits
IBISWorld wrote in June 2026 that gaming machine reforms are set to erode a historically high-margin revenue stream, and that Victorian pubs heavily reliant on gaming, particularly in Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs, face the most acute near-term earnings risk, with operators in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia told to expect similar pressure. A 2025 study cited by IBISWorld found more than half of Australian gamblers now gamble mainly online, while poker machines remain the largest single source of gambling losses at about $15.8 billion a year. In Victoria, hotel and club player losses were $3,318.40 million in 2025-26 (Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission). The pubs most exposed are not the weakest pubs. They are the ones whose profit is mostly machines.
Three ways to own
Decide what you are buying before you decide what to pay: the building and the trade, the trade alone, or the building alone.
“Hotel for sale” covers three different purchases. A freehold going concern is the building and the business together, run by you. A leasehold is the business alone, in someone else’s building. A freehold investment is the building alone, with an operator paying you rent. They are valued on different numbers, lent against on different terms and sold to different buyers, and a listing will not always tell you which one you are looking at.
Freehold going concern
The land, the hotel, the licence, the gaming entitlements or authorities where there are any, the fixtures and the trade, in one price. Valued as one income-producing asset: the earnings a competent operator could maintain, capitalised at a market yield. The building gives the lender security, and the earnings decide how much of it can be borrowed.
Funded as one going-concern loan. Two tests: value and cash flow.
Leasehold
The business, the licence and the fit-out, with the building leased from a landlord. Less capital, more landlord risk: the lease has to outlast the loan, permit the use and survive the sale, and its rent review decides your margin. IBISWorld reported in June 2026 that landlords are using market reviews to reset pub rents higher.
Funded as a business loan. The lease term is the clock.
Freehold investment
The building with an operator in it paying rent. You own property, not a pub business: its value rests on the rent, the lease term and the tenant’s strength. A regional Victorian pub leased to a national operator on a triple-net lease sold for $3.495 million at a 4.96% yield in April 2025.
Funded as commercial property, priced on the tenant.
| What the market paid | Figure | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Pub sales in 2025 | $2.06 billion across 179 deals | New South Wales $920.8 million across 76 deals and Queensland $820.3 million across 48; private buyers made 87.8% of the purchases. A deep market, mostly people like you. |
| Metropolitan freehold going concerns | About 6.75% Sydney; 7.5% to 9.5% south-east Queensland | CBRE, November 2025, which also reported heightened interest in gaming-intensive freeholds and more bank lending appetite. JLL put the compression in top-end yields at up to 1 percentage point during 2025. |
| Country pubs | 10% to 12% as going concerns; 6% to 7.5% subject to a lease | Well-located regional pubs in Victoria and New South Wales; secondary or remote pubs can exceed 15% (Opteon, June 2025). The same price buys about 1.5 to 1.8 times the earnings in the country that it buys in Sydney (our arithmetic on these yields). |
| Leased to a national operator | 4.96% | A triple-net lease to a large operator turns a country pub into a property investment priced like one. The tenant’s covenant, not the town, sets the yield. |
2025 totals: M3 Property, as reported by the Australian Financial Review, December 2025. Yields: CBRE, Australian Pubs Report, November 2025; JLL as reported by the Australian Financial Review, December 2025; Opteon, Alternate Investments Quarterly, June 2025. Leased sale: Latrobe Valley Express, April 2025. Yields are earnings or rent divided by price. Not a valuation of any property.
Metro against country
A country pub for sale often looks cheap on its earnings, and the yield is the reason: the buyer pool is smaller, comparable sales are fewer, and one season or one employer can make or break the year. Lender appetite narrows with distance too. A private lender we deal with considers hotels, motels and pubs as specialised security in metro areas only and names rural locations as what slows a file (April and October 2026). In Victoria, CBRE sees selective value in non-gaming and regional lifestyle pubs (November 2025), and Savills reported Victorian transaction activity held back partly by stamp duty changes (February 2026). IBISWorld names Queensland as the growth market for groups seeking lower entry costs (June 2026). Country deals get done every week. They are done on rebuilt earnings, with a valuation ordered early and a buyer who can show how the trade survives a quiet winter.
The rebuild
A pub’s earnings are advertised before anyone is paid to run it, and before the valuer has done the sum.
In many pubs this size the owners hold the licence, run the bar, manage the kitchen and do the books, and their family covers the weekend shifts. Add the insurance and energy contracts that will be yours, and the festival weekend that will not come back, and the earnings move. A lender rebuilds them, and its valuer capitalises the rebuilt figure, not the vendor’s. So should you, before you offer.
| The rebuild: a country freehold going concern, asking $4.2 million | Amount | Why it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3,400,000 | Bar, bistro, bottle shop, $500,000 of gaming revenue and six rooms upstairs. |
| Earnings as presented (EBITDA) | $510,000 | A 15% margin. On this number the asking price is 8.2 times earnings, a 12.1% yield: cheap against the 10% to 12% Opteon reported for well-located regional going concerns. |
| The licensee-manager, at market | − $100,800 | $90,000 plus 12% superannuation. The vendors run the pub; you will either do the same job or pay someone to. |
| The family’s weekend shifts, at award rates | − $45,000 | Bar and kitchen hours the vendors’ family works without pay. |
| Insurance and energy at your renewal | − $22,000 | Your premiums and your power contract, not the vendor’s last invoices. IBISWorld reports both rising. |
| A one-off that will not repeat | − $30,000 | A festival weekend and an insurance recovery in the last financial year. |
| What a lender assesses | $312,200 | The pub has not changed. Only your understanding of it has. The price is now 13.5 times earnings, a 7.4% yield: a metropolitan yield for a country pub. |
Illustrative only, to show the shape of the adjustment. Not a valuation and not a representation about any particular business. Superannuation at 12%. Regional yields: Opteon, June 2025. General information only, current at November 2026.
Now the funding. A valuer capitalises the earnings a new owner can maintain: at 11%, inside Opteon’s regional range, $312,200 values the pub at about $2.84 million, and at 60% of that the security supports about $1.70 million. At 1.5 times cover, the same earnings would service about $1.76 million over 15 years at 8.5%, so the security decides. The buyer brings about $2.50 million, 59% of the price, before duty and costs. On the vendor’s $510,000 the same pub needed $1.68 million. Cut gaming revenue by 15%, with 60% of the lost revenue coming off earnings, and the loan falls by about another $245,000. That gap is the negotiation.
Run the funding check on a pub you are looking at.
Type the numbers from any information memorandum. Every assumption is editable. They are yours, not ours.
Enter the asking price and the earnings as presented to see the rebuild, the loan the security and the cash flow each support, the equity to find, and what a fall in gaming does to all three.
Illustrative arithmetic on figures you enter, on principal-and-interest repayments. The loan is the lower of what the security supports (the lending share of the price, or of the value on rebuilt earnings if you enter a capitalisation rate) and what the cash flow supports at the cover you enter. Cover of 1.5 times and the lending shares in the placeholder reflect broker commentary on pub lending published in 2026, not any lender’s policy; one specialist business bank told us its minimum cover is 1.25 times (September 2026). Capitalisation rates: Opteon, June 2025; CBRE, November 2025. The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September 2026; rates quoted before then have moved. Not a valuation, not advice, and no representation about any particular business or lender. General information only.
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30 minutes with Priyank, at no cost. We review your position and discuss how we will approach funding your deal. No lender sees anything until you say so.
The valuer and the credit team ask the same question from two sides: what does this pub earn for an owner who pays for everything the vendor does for free? Answer it first, and you know whether the asking price is a starting point or a fantasy.
Gaming reform
Gaming is the highest-margin line in the pub, and every state with machines is rewriting it.
Gaming income is valued inside the going concern, not as a separate asset, and broker commentary in 2026 describes lenders holding back a margin on it for regulatory risk. Your offer should do the same. What applies depends on the state, and in Victoria and New South Wales the rules are still moving.
| State | What applies now | What it means for your deal |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 27,310 entitlements statewide (14,099 hotel, 13,211 club), at most 105 per venue, running for 20 years from 16 August 2022. Gaming rooms closed from 4am to 10am since 30 August 2024. A $100 cash load-up limit and a 3-second minimum spin rate from December 2025. Carded play with pre-commitment legislated in May 2025 and trialled at 43 venues from September to November 2025; no statewide start date announced at 2 November 2026. | The buyer needs the Commission’s approval before settlement, notified at least 14 working days ahead, and the machines must be connected to monitoring; entitlements pass after settlement. Find out who holds them, what deferred payments remain, and whether those are paid out or taken over under a deed. One pub group paused Victorian expansion in 2025 after modelling a 10% to 30% fall in revenue under the reforms. |
| New South Wales | At most 30 machines per hotel. Machines shut down from 4am to 10am, and more than 650 venues lost their variations to that shutdown in 2026 (NSW Government). New machines accept no more than $500 in cash (previously $5,000) since 1 July 2023. Hotel gaming tax rises in steps with quarterly gaming profit, to 50% of profit above $1.25 million a quarter. The package announced on 25 August 2026 proposes a sinking cap on entitlements, forfeiture of one in every two entitlements moved between venues (today one in every two or three, depending on the transfer), an exclusion register with facial recognition from 2028 and higher licence fees for gaming venues, with no start dates given. | The forfeiture rule bites when entitlements move between venues: confirm with Liquor & Gaming NSW how your purchase is treated before you rely on the machine count, and assume adding machines later will cost more entitlements than it does today. Price the tax at your own profit level and model the higher fees. Liquor & Gaming NSW publishes six-monthly gaming data by venue: read it against the vendor’s figures. |
| Queensland | Each machine in a hotel needs an operating authority, sold through Public Trustee tenders in three regions, with minimum tender prices of $499,602 in the South East, $184,262 in the Coastal region and $156,126 in the Western region. A trial to 30 June 2028 cuts the government’s share of transfer proceeds from 33% to 15%. | A buyer needs a new gaming machine licence. Count the authorities the hotel holds and check their region: they are part of what you are paying for. CBRE reported authority values easing from about $661,000 to about $565,000 after an early-2025 peak (November 2025). |
Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission: entitlements (updated 14 October 2026), transferring a venue (updated 13 March 2026), compliance (updated 27 October 2026), the carded play bill (May 2025) and gambling data (updated 23 October 2026); Premier of Victoria, 26 November 2024. Liquor & Gaming NSW: entitlements (May 2026) and hotel gaming tax (June 2026); NSW Government releases, 2023 to 2026. Business Queensland, operating authorities, updated 20 October 2026. Pub group: Australian Financial Review, May 2025. Checked 2 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Test the gaming line before you bid
Ask for gaming revenue by month for three years, the machine count, and the entitlement or authority records, and compare them with what the regulator publishes. Then value the pub twice: once on the gaming as it is, and once with it down by the share the calculator above lets you set. If the deal only works on the first number, the vendor is selling you the reform risk at no discount. Policy can move either way at an election: Victoria votes on 28 November 2026 and New South Wales in March 2027, and the New South Wales governing party’s conference backed deeper cuts in July 2026.
The licence
You cannot pour a drink on settlement day until the regulator has said yes.
The liquor licence and, in a gaming venue, the gaming approvals do not pass with the keys. The buyer applies, the regulator and the police assess the buyer, and the timetable is the regulator’s, not the vendor’s. Build the contract around it.
| State | The liquor licence transfer | Before settlement |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria (Liquor Control Victoria) | The person or company taking over applies; the fee is $259.10, not refundable. Apply at least eight weeks before settlement: a decision takes about five to seven weeks, and Victoria Police have a month to object. The applicant must have completed, or be enrolled in, new entrant training and responsible service of alcohol. | You cannot supply alcohol until the transfer is granted and you have the right to occupy. The transfer can be granted ahead of settlement, and you must email Liquor Control Victoria the right-to-occupy notice within 24 hours of settlement. In a gaming venue, the Commission’s approval as well, notified 14 working days ahead. |
| New South Wales (Liquor & Gaming NSW) | With the outgoing licensee’s consent, or as owner in possession, treated as the licensee for 28 days. Provisional approval usually comes within 10 business days and confirmation within 60 days. Applicants need responsible service of alcohol training, responsible conduct of gambling where required, and a police certificate less than three months old; a company licensee appoints a manager. | The transfer does not take effect until provisional approval is given, so lodge early enough to trade on settlement day. A gaming entitlement direct-debit form goes with every transfer. |
| Queensland (Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation) | Lodge the transfer application well before settlement. An interim authority typically takes two to three working days, and the full transfer about two months. A licensee or an approved manager may need to be on the premises. | No liquor sales until the interim authority is granted. A new gaming machine licence is needed for the machines. |
Liquor Control Victoria, transfer your liquor licence, updated 18 August 2026; Liquor & Gaming NSW, transfer a liquor licence, updated 3 September 2026; Business Queensland, transferring a liquor licence, updated 6 August 2026. Checked 2 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Put the approvals in the contract
Make the licence transfer and every gaming approval conditions of the contract, with a sunset date set by the regulator’s timetable rather than the vendor’s preferred settlement. Agree who lodges what and when, who pays any deferred entitlement instalments, and what happens to stock, staff, bookings and accommodation guests if an approval lands a week late. Read the licence itself before you value the trade: its trading hours, patron capacity and conditions, and in Victoria its compliance history, including any demerit points. Expect the lender to make the approvals a condition of its funding as well.
The screening register
One is a negotiation. Three is a walk.
A busy front bar on a Friday night makes buyers sign quickly. That is exactly when discipline pays. These are the recurring twelve, and the remedy for each.
Income and gaming
Gaming carrying the profit. Most of the earnings from machines, in a state mid-reform. Rebuild on a stressed gaming line and price the risk into the offer.
Entitlements with strings. Deferred payments owing, held by another entity, or fewer than the vendor thinks. Get the regulator’s records and settle the payments in the contract.
Takings you cannot verify. A cash-heavy bar and bottle shop with point-of-sale reports that do not match the bank. Reconcile till to bank to BAS; a lender reads only what reconciles.
Trade that will not repeat. A festival, a final, a one-year function contract, an insurance recovery. Normalise it out of the earnings you pay for.
Building and lease
A lease shorter than the loan. Or a market review due in year one. The lease has to outlast the debt, with options, and the review clause read before the price.
Capital works you are inheriting. The kitchen, the cool room, the roof, fire services, the rooms upstairs. A building condition report before exchange, and the bill in the price.
A valuation below the price. The valuer capitalises maintainable earnings at a market yield. Order the valuation early, with the evidence, inside the finance clause.
Accommodation that does not comply. Rooms let without the fire and building approvals their use needs. Check before you count their income.
Permissions and people
A licence you have not read. Hours, patron capacity, conditions and the compliance record decide what the trade can be. Read them before you value it.
Approvals outside the timetable. A settlement date the regulator cannot meet. Conditions and sunset dates matched to the transfer and gaming approvals.
The licensee and the chef leave with the vendor. They are the trade. A handover in weeks or months, key people retained, the roles costed in the rebuild.
A compliance history nobody mentioned. Responsible service breaches, police incidents, noise complaints, gaming breaches. Ask in writing before exchange.
Anything touching the gaming or the lease counts double
A pub purchase is funded on the earnings a lender believes and the value its valuer signs. Gaming that depends on rules being rewritten and a lease that ends before the loan are not two findings among twelve. They are the earnings and the security, and those are the loan.
The funding
The structure you buy decides the lender you need, and the valuation decides the loan.
A freehold going concern is funded as one loan against the valuer’s going-concern value, tested on the earnings. A leasehold is a business loan sized on cash flow, with the lease term as the clock. A freehold with a tenant is commercial property, priced on the rent. Each needs a different lender list, and the deposit follows from the lower of what the value and the cash flow support. The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September 2026, so any quote dated before then has moved.
Freehold going concern: one loan, two tests
Funded against the going-concern value of the building and the trade, and tested on the rebuilt earnings. Broker commentary in 2026 puts lending at up to about 65% of that value with gaming and about 50% without. One specialist business bank lists hotels among the specialised assets it lends against at higher leverage, for owner-operators rather than passive investors (September 2026); a non-bank caps specialised securities such as motels and boarding houses at 55% to 65% of value, depending on location and valuation (September 2026); it did not name pubs. Expect a valuation of the going concern, not just the bricks.
Leasehold: a business loan with a clock
No building to lend against, so the loan is sized on cash flow and the remaining lease term caps it: broker commentary in 2026 puts leasehold lending at 40% to 50% of value. Property you already own can be added as security. Cash-flow lenders lend without property at higher rates and shorter terms. Vendor finance behind the bank can close a gap.
Freehold investment: property, priced on the tenant
A pub with an operator paying rent is funded as commercial property against the rent and the tenant’s strength. The specialist bank that lends against hotels for owner-operators does not fund stand-alone property investment (September 2026), so the lender list changes. Regional pubs sold subject to a lease traded at 6% to 7.5% (Opteon, June 2025); a triple-net lease to a national operator priced at 4.96% (April 2025).
Experience changes the gearing
One specialist bank asks buyers to bring about 30% of the price to a standalone business purchase, tests cover of at least 1.25 times, weights the buyer’s skills heavily and asks for a resume and evidence of relevant experience before an indicative offer, and may set lower gearing for first-time operators (September and October 2026). A licensee of ten years, a venue manager, a hospitality group behind you: that history is part of the security. First-time owners can be funded with more equity and an experienced licensee in place.
The pack a lender reads
For the pub: three years of financials and tax returns with the add-backs itemised; monthly trading by line (bar, food, bottle shop, gaming, rooms) for three years; point-of-sale and gaming reports reconciled to bank deposits and BAS; the licence with its conditions, hours and compliance history; the entitlement or authority records and anything owing on them; the lease, or the title and a building condition report; the staff list. For you: a statement of position, two years of tax returns, the deposit and its source, a resume and a twelve-month plan.
Who you are talking to
Priyank assessed and approved business loans as a bank lending manager and commercial credit analyst, and has worked on pub and hotel purchases as a broker. The questions on this page are the ones a credit team asks first: what the pub earns once the vendor’s family stops working for nothing, what the gaming looks like after the reforms, whether the licence and the machines will be approved in time, and what the building would fetch if the trade failed. Deposit workings for any business purchase are on our business deposit guide.
Subject to lender criteria, security position and eligibility. Lender positions in writing, April to October 2026; broker commentary as published in 2026; indicative only and not a quote. We arrange credit; we do not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. Whether a structure is right for you belongs with your solicitor and accountant, and we work alongside both.
Nine questions, two minutes. Then a call within four business hours. No credit enquiry, and no lender sees anything until you say so.
Duty, GST and bars
Duty and GST are settlement-day cash, and a bar or nightclub is a different purchase from a pub.
Lenders rarely fund duty, and a GST mistake on a going concern can add GST to the price at settlement. Settle both with your accountant before you sign. Then, if the venue is a bar or a nightclub rather than a pub, price what it does not have.
Duty
In New South Wales, transfer duty applies to land, interests in land including leases, and fixtures; goodwill and statutory licences such as liquor licences are not dutiable (Revenue NSW, August 2026). Queensland charges duty on business assets including goodwill; Victoria does not charge duty on goodwill. In Victoria, commercial land sold on or after 1 July 2024 pays duty one final time and then, from ten years later, an annual tax of 1% of its unimproved land value, with a government transition loan available for the duty; confirm with the State Revenue Office that the pub’s land use qualifies.
GST and the structure
The sale is GST-free as a going concern only if it is for payment, the buyer is registered or required to be, both parties agree in writing, the seller supplies everything needed to keep the business running, and the seller trades until the day of sale (ATO). A freehold sold with its tenant can qualify too. Buying the company that holds the licence can avoid a transfer, but not the regulators, who still look at who controls a licensee; ask your solicitor how they treat a change of control before you choose shares over assets.
Bars and nightclubs
A nightclub has no gaming or bottle-shop income to lean on: Victoria’s planning scheme defines it to exclude packaged liquor and gaming. IBISWorld puts nightclub revenue at about $1 billion and risk at 4.7 out of 9, Medium (September 2026), and notes that most operators run a single venue whose brand is tied to its location, that alcohol and related inputs absorb about a third of revenue, and that nightlife visits were down 23% to 33% in late 2025 on Night Time Industries Association data. A specialised fit-out is worth little to anyone else, so plan on more equity or other property as security.
Revenue NSW, buying a business, updated 31 August 2026; Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance and Treasury Corporation of Victoria, commercial and industrial property tax reform; ATO, sale of a going concern. IBISWorld, Nightclubs in Australia (OD5405) Risk Ratings Report, September 2026. Victoria Planning Provisions, clause 73.03. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Take it with you
The 6-page guide is at no cost, and written to be read before you walk the cellar.
The 6-page guide
The three ways to own a pub and what the market paid in 2025, the rebuild and the funding check worked line by line with a gaming stress test, gaming reform and the licence transfer state by state, the 12 deal-killers with a scoring register, the pack to send, and a page of IBISWorld’s June 2026 industry figures distilled to what a buyer needs.
Direct download. No email required.
Then send us the business
The information memorandum, three years of financials with monthly trading by line, the licence and its conditions, the entitlement or authority records, and the lease or title. Within 24 hours you have our answer: fundable, not fundable, or what’s missing. Once you accept our quote, your written Action Plan follows within one business day: what happens, in what order, the funding pathway scoped for that business, an indicative pricing band, and the finance clause date your contract needs.
30 minutes with Priyank, at no cost. We review your position and discuss how we will approach funding your deal. No lender sees anything until you say so.
Fair questions
Straight answers.
How much does a pub cost in Australia?
A pub in Australia costs whatever its maintainable earnings are worth at the yield buyers accept for that location, plus duty and costs. In 2025, 179 pubs changed hands for about $2.06 billion in total (M3 Property, reported December 2025), from country freeholds to the $140 million sale of the Beach Hotel at Byron Bay (Australian Financial Review, December 2025). Freehold going concern yields ran about 6.75% in metropolitan Sydney and 7.5% to 9.5% in south-east Queensland (CBRE, November 2025), and 10% to 12% for well-located regional pubs in Victoria and New South Wales (Opteon, June 2025). At 11%, a pub earning $300,000 is worth about $2.7 million; at 7%, about $4.3 million. Rebuild the earnings first, because the yield is applied to what a new owner can keep. General information, not a valuation.
How do you value a pub?
A pub is valued one of three ways, depending on what is being sold. A freehold going concern is valued on the earnings a competent operator could maintain, after a market wage for management, capitalised at a market yield and adjusted for the gaming, the building’s condition and the licence. A leasehold is valued on the same maintainable earnings, with less paid the shorter the lease, because the business has only the years left on the lease to earn back the price. A freehold sold with a tenant is valued on the rent and the tenant’s strength: a regional Victorian pub leased to a national operator on a triple-net lease sold at 4.96% in April 2025, against 10% to 12% for regional going concerns (Opteon, June 2025). Ask which basis the asking price uses.
Can I get a loan to buy a pub?
Yes, and the right lender depends on what you are buying. A freehold going concern is funded as one loan against the going-concern value of the building and the trade, tested on the earnings; a leasehold is funded as a business loan on cash flow, often with property you already own as extra security; a pub with a tenant in place is funded as commercial property against the rent. In written positions in 2026, one specialist business bank listed hotels among the specialised assets it lends against at higher leverage for owner-operators, asked buyers to bring about 30% to a standalone business purchase and tested cover of at least 1.25 times (September), and a private lender considers pubs as security in metro areas only (April and October). Subject to lender assessment.
How much deposit do I need to buy a pub?
Usually more than buyers expect, because the lender applies two tests and the lower result wins. Broker commentary in 2026 puts freehold going concern lending at up to about 65% of the lender’s valuation with gaming and about 50% without, and leasehold at 40% to 50%. The valuation is on earnings a new owner can maintain, not the vendor’s figures, so it can come in under the price. In the rebuild on this page, a $4.2 million country pub needs $1.68 million from the buyer on the vendor’s figures and about $2.50 million on the rebuilt ones, before duty and costs. Property you already own can carry part of the gap, and vendor finance repaid after the bank can close the rest. Subject to lender assessment.
What is a freehold going concern?
A freehold going concern is a pub sold with its building and its trade together: you buy the land, the hotel, the licence, the gaming entitlements or authorities where there are any, the fixtures and the business, and you run it yourself. It is valued and funded as one income-producing asset, on the earnings it can maintain. The alternatives are a leasehold, where you buy the business and lease the building from a landlord, and a freehold investment, where you buy the building with an operator paying you rent. In 2025, freehold going concern yields ran from about 6.75% in metropolitan Sydney (CBRE, November 2025) to 10% to 12% for well-located regional pubs in Victoria and New South Wales (Opteon, June 2025).
Should I buy a leasehold or a freehold pub?
A leasehold needs less capital and carries landlord risk; a freehold needs more and carries the building. On a leasehold your security is the lease: it has to outlast the loan, carry options, permit the use and survive the sale with the landlord’s consent, and IBISWorld reported in June 2026 that landlords are using market reviews to reset pub rents higher. A freehold going concern costs more up front but gives the lender property to lend against, and the rent you no longer pay builds your equity instead of a landlord’s. Many operators start leasehold and buy a freehold once they have a trading record a lender can read. Run both on the calculator on this page: the value test and the cash flow test fall differently for each. Subject to lender assessment.
How do I transfer a liquor licence when I buy a pub?
The buyer applies, and the timing differs by state. In Victoria, apply to Liquor Control Victoria at least eight weeks before settlement (fee $259.10): a decision takes about five to seven weeks, police have a month to object, and you cannot sell alcohol until the transfer is granted and you have the right to occupy. In New South Wales the transfer takes effect once Liquor & Gaming NSW gives provisional approval, usually within 10 business days, and is confirmed within 60 days. In Queensland, lodge the transfer application well before settlement; an interim authority typically takes two to three working days and the full transfer about two months. Make the transfer a condition of the contract. Checked November 2026.
What happens to the poker machines when I buy a pub?
They keep running for you only once the regulator has approved you. In Victoria, the buyer needs the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission’s approval before settlement, must notify it at least 14 working days ahead and connect the machines to monitoring; the entitlements, which run for 20 years from 16 August 2022, pass after settlement, with any deferred payments paid out or taken over under a deed. In New South Wales a hotel may operate at most 30 machines, and entitlements moved between venues are partly forfeited, so confirm with Liquor & Gaming NSW how your purchase is treated. In Queensland, a new gaming machine licence is needed and each machine needs an operating authority. Make each approval a condition of the contract.
How will gaming reform affect what a pub is worth?
It already has, unevenly. IBISWorld wrote in June 2026 that gaming reforms are set to erode a historically high-margin revenue stream, with Victorian pubs heavily reliant on gaming, particularly in Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs, facing the most acute near-term risk. Victoria has closed gaming rooms from 4am to 10am since 30 August 2024, introduced cash and spin-rate limits from December 2025 and legislated carded play in May 2025, with no statewide start date announced at 2 November 2026. New South Wales announced a package on 25 August 2026 that includes a sinking cap on entitlements and facial recognition from 2028. Value the gaming line on a stressed figure, not the strongest year: the calculator on this page shows what a fall does to the loan.
Is it harder to finance a country pub?
Narrower, not closed. Country pubs trade at higher yields, 10% to 12% for well-located regional pubs in Victoria and New South Wales sold as going concerns and above 15% for secondary or remote ones (Opteon, June 2025), so the same earnings buy more building and the valuer has fewer comparable sales to lean on. Lender appetite thins with distance: a private lender we deal with considers pubs as specialised security in metro areas only and names rural locations as what slows a file (2026). What helps is income that does not hang on one season or one event, a bottle shop or rooms that spread it, a long trading record, and a buyer with hospitality experience. Subject to lender assessment.
Do I pay stamp duty when I buy a pub?
On the property, yes; on the business, it depends on the state. In New South Wales, transfer duty applies to land, interests in land including leases, and fixtures, while goodwill and statutory licences such as liquor licences are not dutiable (Revenue NSW, August 2026). Queensland charges duty on business assets including goodwill, and Victoria does not charge duty on goodwill. In Victoria, commercial land sold on or after 1 July 2024 pays duty one final time and then, from ten years later, an annual tax of 1% of its unimproved land value; check with the State Revenue Office that the pub’s land use qualifies. Budget duty as cash, because lenders rarely fund it, and have your accountant confirm the figure before you sign.
Is there GST when you buy a pub?
Usually not, if the sale qualifies as a going concern. The ATO treats it as GST-free when it is for payment, the buyer is registered or required to be registered for GST, both parties agree in writing that it is a going concern, the seller supplies everything needed to keep the business running, and the seller trades until the day of sale. Miss a condition and GST can be added to the price at settlement, cash a lender may not fund. A freehold sold with its tenant in place can qualify too, because the lease is the going concern. Your accountant and solicitor settle the clause before exchange.
Can I buy a pub with no hospitality experience?
Yes, with more equity, an experienced licensee and a plan. Lenders weigh the buyer’s experience: one specialist business bank asks for a resume and evidence of experience in the industry, or in running a similar business, before an indicative offer, and may set lower gearing for first-time operators (September and October 2026). The regulators ask for training: in Victoria, a new licensee must have completed, or be enrolled in, new entrant training and responsible service of alcohol; in New South Wales, applicants need responsible service of alcohol training and responsible conduct of gambling training where required. A first-time buyer who keeps an experienced licensee or venue manager, costs their wage in the rebuild and has the vendor’s handover in writing reads very differently to a credit team. Subject to lender assessment.
How is a nightclub different from a pub for a buyer?
The income is narrower. Across pubs, bars and nightclubs, IBISWorld attributes 18.7% of revenue to gaming and wagering, 19.4% to takeaway liquor and 19.6% to meals (June 2026), while Victoria’s planning scheme defines a nightclub as a place of entertainment and dancing that excludes packaged liquor and gaming. IBISWorld’s nightclub report (September 2026) says most operators run a single venue whose brand is tied to its location, that alcohol and related inputs absorb about a third of revenue, and that nightclubs are among the most capital-intensive hospitality formats. With no gaming or bottle shop and a fit-out worth little to anyone else, a nightclub gives a lender less to lend against than a pub with the same earnings, so plan on more equity or other property as security. Subject to lender assessment.
Are there lockouts or trading-hour limits in NSW and Victoria now?
Not lockouts, but the hours still depend on the licence. In New South Wales, lockouts ended in the Sydney CBD and Oxford Street in January 2020 and in Kings Cross in 2021, and on 21 January 2026 the government announced removal of the remaining conditions in those areas, including 3.30am last drinks, plastic cups and per-person drink limits. In Victoria, the freeze on new licences trading past 1am in Melbourne, Port Phillip, Yarra and Stonnington ended on 30 June 2023; applicants there now supply a venue management plan, a noise plan and a gender-based violence plan, and existing licensees who want to trade past 1am must change their licence category. Read the licence’s own hours and conditions before you value the late trade.
The 6-page guide covers the three ways to own, the rebuild with a gaming stress test, gaming reform and the licence transfer by state, the 12 deal-killers, the pack to send and the industry figures behind the price. Download it here → No email required.
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