The growing bill to rectify defects in the country’s apartment building stock is drawing in new lenders and loan products to service a market that one says could be worth “hundreds of millions” a year – and also sparking criticism of the newcomers from existing players.

One recent entrant to what it calls an under-serviced market is Austrata, which started 18 months ago and already has a pipeline of existing and potential loans worth $120 million. The company is seeking to expand on the back of what it calls a “hybrid loan” to owners corporations.