SMSF Property Ban: The Six-Week Window Explained, With Katie Timms

The government has banned SMSF property lending, but the window has not fully closed for every investor. Katie Timms, partner at RSM Australia and one of the country’s most experienced SMSF specialists, joins Reece Beddall and Lachlan Delahunty to break down exactly what the ban means, who still has a viable path forward, and what investors need to do in the next six weeks to protect their position.

What the Ban Means for Investors Already in SMSF Property

Katie Timms is direct on the most important point: existing limited recourse borrowing arrangements are grandfathered. Investors who already hold residential property within an SMSF under an existing LRBA are not required to unwind those arrangements. They can continue to hold, service, and eventually sell the asset in the normal course. The disruption to existing arrangements is not what the ban creates.

The disruption is to new arrangements. Any investor who was planning to use an SMSF to purchase residential property using borrowed funds from this point forward can no longer do so under the new framework.

The Six-Week Window: Who It Applies To and What to Do

For investors with properties under contract within an SMSF structure at the time of the announcement, a specific window exists. Katie Timms explains the conditions that determine whether a strategy already in progress can be completed or whether the announcement has cut off that path. The six-week reference is not a formal regulatory deadline: it reflects the realistic settlement timeline for contracts already exchanged, combined with the documentation requirements that SMSF administrators need to process before completion.

If you had a property under contract, talk to your SMSF specialist and accountant this week. The settlement timeline and the documentation on your LRBA structure will determine your options.

What SMSF Investors Should Consider Now

For investors who were planning to use SMSF property as a primary strategy and that path is now closed, Katie Timms and the Follio team discuss the alternative structures worth considering. Personal investment trusts, family trust structures for property, and direct personal ownership each have different tax and asset protection profiles that may serve some of the objectives that the SMSF property approach was designed to achieve.

Published: 30 Jun 2026