SMSF Property - Religare Realty

SMSF property — acquisition services

If you and your licensed adviser have decided that property inside your self managed super fund is right for you, we can act on the purchase and arrange the borrowing. What we will not do is tell you whether an SMSF suits you. That is financial product advice, we are not licensed to give it, and you should be wary of any property firm that does.

Read this before you read anything else about SMSF property

A self managed super fund is a financial product. Under the Corporations Act, recommending that someone set up an SMSF, or use an existing one to buy property, is financial product advice — and it requires an Australian Financial Services Licence. ASIC has said this directly to the real estate industry and has taken property promoters to court over it.

Religare Realty does not hold an AFS licence and is not an authorised representative of one. Everything on this page is factual information about how the rules work. None of it is a recommendation that you use an SMSF, and none of it takes account of your circumstances. That decision belongs with your accountant, your licensed financial adviser or an SMSF specialist.

If a buyer’s agent, developer or property marketer has told you that an SMSF is a good way to buy their property, ask to see their licence. Most cannot produce one.

What the rules permit — factually

General information about how SMSF property works in Australia. Not advice, and not a recommendation to use one.

The sole purpose test

A fund’s investments must be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to members. A property the fund owns cannot be lived in or used by a member or a related party — with one exception, below.

Business real property

The exception. Property used wholly and exclusively in a business may be acquired from, and leased to, a related party — provided it is on arm’s length terms at market rent. This is why commercial premises are the most common SMSF property.

Limited recourse borrowing

A fund may borrow to buy a single acquirable asset through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, held in a separate holding trust. The lender’s recourse is limited to that asset. Lending is at lower leverage than personal borrowing and a liquidity buffer is usually required.

What a fund cannot do

It cannot buy a residential property from a member or related party, cannot let a member or relative live in or use a residential property it owns, and cannot use borrowed funds to make improvements that change the character of the asset.

Where we fit, and where we do not

Decision	Who handles it
Whether an SMSF suits you at all	Your licensed financial adviser
Setting up or winding up a fund	Licensed adviser or SMSF specialist
Investment strategy and asset allocation	Trustees, with licensed advice
Tax, contributions and compliance	Your accountant and SMSF auditor
Trust deed and holding trust documents	Your solicitor
Finding, assessing and negotiating the property	Religare Realty
Arranging the limited recourse borrowing	Religare Home Loans

We are happy to sit in the room with your accountant and adviser. In practice that works better than everyone working from a different version of the numbers.

Questions we can answer

What can we actually help with?

Once the SMSF decision has been made with your adviser, we act as your buyer’s agent on the acquisition — search, assessment, due diligence and negotiation — and can arrange the limited recourse borrowing through Religare Home Loans. We also provide factual information about what the superannuation rules permit, which is different from advising you to use them.

Why is commercial property so common in SMSFs?

Because of the business real property exception. Property used wholly and exclusively in a business may be acquired from and leased to a related party on arm’s length terms, which residential property may not. That allows a business owner to hold their own premises inside their fund and pay market rent to it. Whether that is appropriate for you depends on your circumstances and is a question for your adviser.

How much can a fund borrow?

Less than you can personally. Lenders that write SMSF commercial loans commonly go to around 70–75% of the property value, with the market ranging wider, and typically require the fund to retain a cash buffer after settlement. Terms, servicing tests and liquidity requirements vary by lender. These figures are indicative as at August 2026 and subject to lender policy and credit assessment.

What are the costs?

An SMSF purchase carries costs a personal purchase does not — the holding trust and its corporate trustee, additional legal work, lender fees that are generally higher than standard commercial, and ongoing audit and compliance. Your accountant can quantify these for your fund. They matter, and on a smaller purchase they can materially change whether the exercise is worth doing.

Can the fund buy a residential investment property?

Yes, subject to the fund’s investment strategy and the superannuation rules — but it cannot be bought from a member or related party, and no member or relative may live in it or use it. The related-party leasing exception applies only to business real property.

What happens if the rules are breached?

Consequences for trustees can be severe, including administrative penalties, the fund being made non-complying and the resulting tax consequences. This is precisely why the structural work belongs with a licensed adviser and an accountant rather than with a property firm.

Already taken advice? We can act on the purchase.

If your adviser and accountant have signed off on the strategy, bring us the brief. If they have not, that is the conversation to have first — and we will say so rather than take the engagement.

Book a discovery call
+61 426 223 035

Important. Religare Realty is a licensed buyer’s agency. It does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence and is not an authorised representative of one. Nothing on this page is financial product advice, superannuation advice, taxation advice or legal advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to establish, use or contribute to a self managed superannuation fund or to acquire any financial product. The information here is general and factual, is current as at August 2026, does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs, and superannuation law changes. Obtain advice from a licensed financial adviser, your accountant, an SMSF specialist and your solicitor before making any decision. Related: commercial investment, SMSF lending.