Your SMSF can buy Australian residential or commercial property. From 10 August 2026, new borrowing for real property is limited to business real property.
With ESUPERFUND, your SMSF can buy Australian residential property, commercial property, vacant land or rural land using the fund’s own money. If the fund needs to borrow, the path ESUPERFUND currently supports is commercial property only.
That reflects a change in the law. A limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) entered into on or after 10 August 2026 to buy real property can only be used to acquire business real property. As a result, new SMSF loans for residential property purchases are no longer available through ESUPERFUND.
The fund pays for the property from its own money. The property can only be leased to tenants who are not related to the fund’s members.
Buy with the fund’s money, or with a limited recourse loan held through a Security Custodian structure. It may be leased to a related party at a commercial rent.
What the law may permit, what ESUPERFUND supports and what you decide as trustee are separate questions. This table shows what ESUPERFUND supports for a new purchase.
| Property type | Without borrowing | With borrowing (LRBA) |
|---|---|---|
| ResidentialHouses, units, apartments |
✓Supported
Held by the trustee as trustee for the fund. Tenants must not be related to the fund’s members. |
✕Not supported
for new purchases
From 10 August 2026, a new LRBA can only finance business real property. ESUPERFUND no longer offers new SMSF loans for residential property.
!Check
current position |
| CommercialOffices, shops, warehouses and other business premises |
✓Supported
Held by the trustee as trustee for the fund. May be leased to a related party, such as a member’s business, at a commercial rent. |
✓Supported
category
Bought in the name of a Security Custodian company, with a separate custody trust for each property. The lender decides whether to lend; a supported category is not a loan approval. The property must be business real property when the LRBA is entered into and for the whole life of the loan. |
The fund is the buyer, not you personally. How the purchaser is named depends on whether the fund is borrowing.
The trustee, as trustee for the fund. All individual trustees, or all directors of the trustee company, sign the contract.
Spotty Pty Ltd as trustee for the Spotty
Superannuation FundIllustrative name. With individual trustees:
“Barney Spot and Buffy Spot as trustee for the
Spotty Superannuation Fund”.
The Security Custodian company, not the SMSF. All directors of that company sign the contract.
Smith Pty LtdIllustrative name. A separate custody trust is
needed for each property.
Confirm the purchaser name, the property type and whether the fund will borrow before you exchange contracts, and ask your conveyancer or solicitor to review it. Read the no-borrowing purchase guide.
Once the fund owns the property, its money stays separate from yours. Choose a stage to see who does what after settlement.
One account for every dollar. Rent and property costs all run through the SMSF Transaction Bank Account.
Arrange for all rent, usually collected by your property manager, to be paid into the SMSF Transaction Bank Account.
Uses the account’s transaction records to track the fund’s rental income.
Keep rent out of personal accounts, so the fund’s money and records stay separate from yours.
Pay property costs such as rates, insurance and repairs from the SMSF account, not from personal funds.
Tracks the fund’s property expenses from the same account.
For commercial property bought with a loan, the loan repayments come from the fund too.
Keep the purchase contract, settlement papers, leases and property manager statements.
May ask for supporting documents, such as the purchase contract, through the annual checklist.
Keep records organised from settlement, so they are ready when they are requested.
Complete the annual checklist. You remain responsible for the fund’s decisions and its compliance.
Includes the property’s income, expenses and documents in the fund’s year-end administration.
Administration support does not transfer the trustee’s legal responsibilities.
For what is included in the annual fee, see the Fee Schedule.
Three kinds of limit shape every purchase. Open each one to see what it covers.
ESUPERFUND does not recommend properties or lenders, or provide personal financial advice.
Five points trustees often raise before buying. Each has a quick answer, with more detail when you open it.
According to the ATO, the change does not apply if the SMSF exchanged a binding contract to acquire real property before 10 August 2026, even if settlement happens or the LRBA is entered into later. It also does not apply to an LRBA entered into before that date, or to maintaining or refinancing one.
Whether ESUPERFUND can support a particular arrangement is a separate question. Contact ESUPERFUND before you proceed.
Only if it meets the definition of business real property, which generally means land and buildings used wholly and exclusively in a business. The ATO notes that a dwelling on primary production land can qualify in limited cases. ESUPERFUND does not offer new residential property loans.
Residential property you own cannot be transferred to your SMSF. Business real property can be acquired from a member at market value. A transfer can have tax and stamp duty consequences, so seek professional advice first.
ESUPERFUND’s current guidance says there is no additional annual fee for property bought without borrowing. Check the Fee Schedule for current fees, including any that relate to borrowing arrangements.
You do, as trustee. ESUPERFUND does not require or recommend a particular lender, broker or service provider. For commercial borrowing, the lender assesses the loan and decides whether to lend.
For your own circumstances, consider independent legal, tax or financial advice.
