Macquarie, NAB, ANZ Strip Negative Gearing From Investor Loans

As Labor's CGT bill heads to a Senate inquiry, major lenders are rewriting how they assess investor home loan applications.

The past week has seen a significant shift in how Australian lenders treat investor home loan applications, with Macquarie Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ, Suncorp, Great Southern Bank, and Connective Horizon all moving to remove negative-gearing benefits from their serviceability calculators for established property purchases.

The trigger is the government's formal introduction of its capital gains tax and negative gearing legislation into the House of Representatives. Treasurer Jim Chalmers tabled the bill on Thursday 28 May 2026, setting off an automatic Senate inquiry required to report by 22 June.

What Changes and Who Is Affected

Under the 2026–27 federal budget, negative gearing on established residential properties purchased **after 12 May 2026** will be wound back from 1 July 2027. Properties purchased before that date, and qualifying new builds purchased after it, are grandfathered under current rules.

This means an investor buying an established property today and relying on negative gearing losses to reduce their tax bill has about 13 months before those deductions are removed. Lenders are now wrestling with how to assess a borrower's repayment capacity when one of the key income add-backs in their calculators may disappear in just over a year.

Macquarie was first to act, removing most negative-gearing add-backs from its serviceability calculations for new investor loans on established properties. NAB followed, limiting negative-gearing recognition to new-build stock for fresh investor applications. ANZ told brokers on 27 May that established investment properties purchased after 12 May would only attract negative-gearing treatment in servicing if they qualified as new builds. Suncorp went further — any investor application not unconditionally approved by 27 May is now being reassessed under revised settings. Great Southern Bank and Connective Horizon, the aggregator's white-label product funded by Brighten, have also confirmed that negative-gearing benefits will no longer be included in serviceability tests for established property deals.

In practice, if a lender stops counting negative gearing as an income add-back, your assessed borrowing capacity falls. The gap can be material for investors with large rental portfolios or tight income margins.

Brokers Are Split on Whether the Industry Moved Too Fast

Not everyone in the industry believes lenders should have acted before the legislation is fully passed.

Nick Lissikatos, director of Trelos Finance, told The Adviser that rushing ahead of the law risked punishing borrowers unnecessarily. "If lenders strip negative gearing now and the legislation doesn't pass then they're punishing the client in this transitionary period," he said. He added that lenders holding firm on existing rules were gaining a competitive edge: "By continuing to lend with negative gearing benefits applied, they're standing out from other lenders when it comes to how much the client can borrow."

Tony Xia, director and broker at The Mortgage Agency, takes the opposite view. He argues the uncertainty over which lenders apply which rules has itself caused significant damage. "The current policy ambiguity has already drained an estimated 60–70 per cent of residential investors out of the market, heavily impacting first-time investors," Xia told The Adviser.

Xia reported that standard investor inquiry volume at his firm had dropped 50–60 per cent, but that fall had been immediately offset by increased activity from first home buyers, SMSF clients, and owner-occupiers looking to convert their existing home into an investment property. He called on the MFAA and FBAA to bring lenders together to establish a unified policy, arguing that the fragmented landscape was damaging investors, brokers, and related professional businesses alike.

Lissikatos also flagged a broader shift in household strategy. "We've started to see a shift from the 'rent-vest' strategy to now considering purchasing a property to live and be done with it," he said.

Both brokers highlighted significant friction for clients with applications currently in progress. "Every day we're going back and forth to make sure the deal is still working and trying to escalate everything we can possible to get these over the line," Lissikatos said.

What to Do If You're an Investor Right Now

If you're buying an established investment property after 12 May 2026, your assessed borrowing power will likely vary significantly depending on which lender you apply with. Some will still count negative gearing as an income add-back; most of the larger lenders now will not.

The most important step is to model your actual borrowing capacity under the new settings — not just under old assumptions. Use our [borrowing power calculator](/calculators/borrowing-power) to see what your numbers look like without the negative gearing add-back, then compare [investor home loan options](/home-loans/investor) across lenders who are actively competing for your business.

If you have a loan currently in progress, ask your broker whether the deal has been stress-tested under the revised serviceability assumptions before unconditional approval. Getting to the finish line and then having a lender reassess the numbers at the last stage is a situation best avoided entirely.

For investors weighing new builds against established properties in the current environment, our [refinance savings calculator](/calculators/refinance-savings) can help model how the cost difference stacks up over the loan term.

For the full industry breakdown, read [The Adviser](https://www.theadviser.com.au/broker/48489-brokers-split-on-how-fast-banks-should-rewrite-investor-rules).