ANZ has changed the way it assesses investor loans, saying properties bought after 12 May 2026 will only count for negative gearing in serviceability tests if they are newly built dwellings. Existing properties bought before that date keep their current treatment, but applications that are not unconditionally approved by close of business on 28 May 2026 may be reassessed under the new criteria.
The move matters now because lenders are already rewriting the rules around a tax change that has not yet passed Parliament. ANZ is one of the biggest banks to adjust its settings after the federal budget’s proposed overhaul of negative gearing, which would strip the concession from residential investment properties purchased after 12 May 2026 unless they are new builds. Brokers say they may need to supply extra detail where a borrower’s eligibility is unclear, and that can change how much a customer is judged able to borrow.
For investors, the practical effect is immediate. A loan that once pencilled in negative gearing benefits may now be assessed more tightly if the property falls outside the new-build test, even though the reforms remain only proposed law. ANZ said refinance applications for eligible existing properties and new builds will continue to qualify for negative gearing treatment in servicing calculations, which means some borrowers will keep their current path while others are pushed into a different assessment band.
ANZ is not moving alone. Suncorp Bank has also updated its serviceability treatment and said applications not unconditionally approved by close of business on 27 May 2026 would be reassessed, while Macquarie was first to strip most negative gearing tax add-backs from its calculator on 18 May and linked the move to the budget and its responsible lending obligations. NAB recalibrated its servicing calculators on 26 May, honouring in-flight applications already unconditionally approved by that date while warning others may be reviewed again if they rely on post-budget contracts and do not meet the new-build test.
That is the awkward edge of this story: lenders are acting as if the policy shift is already real, even though the tax changes have not yet been legislated. For borrowers and brokers, the next checkpoint is simple and unforgiving. Unless an application is locked in by the relevant cutoff, the bank may decide it has to be measured against the new rules anyway.
