When you advise clients with investment property portfolios, you have likely heard this conversation since May. “Does this actually affect me?”
The honest answer is: it depends on what they own, and when they bought it. That nuance is where a joined-up conversation between adviser and broker adds the most value. It explains why we opened a channel with you directly, rather than sending generic marketing to your clients.
What actually changed
The 2026–27 Federal Budget’s property tax reforms are now law, having passed Parliament in June 2026. Two changes matter most for investor clients:
- Negative gearing is being limited to new builds. Established residential properties purchased after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 will not qualify for negative gearing. The cutoff is 1 July 2027. Properties held before that date are grandfathered and unaffected.
- Cost base indexation replaces the 50% CGT discount. A 30% minimum tax on capital gains will apply to assets sold after 1 July 2027. The main residence exemption is untouched.
The detail matters. This is not a blanket removal of negative gearing. It is not retrospective. A client with an established property bought years ago is not directly affected by the change. The clients who need to think differently are the ones considering a new purchase of an established property, or planning a sale that will realise a gain after mid-2027.
(This section is a plain-English summary for context, not tax advice — your own read of the legislation and your client’s specific position should always take precedence.)
Why this pushes cash flow structure up the priority list
For clients who are proceeding with an established-property purchase without the negative gearing offset, or who are managing an existing portfolio into a higher-tax-on-gains environment, the loan structure itself starts doing more of the work that the tax system used to do.
That’s where interest-only structuring has come back into the conversation — not as a way around the reform, but as a genuine cash-flow lever while a client and their adviser work out the right long-term plan.
Where AMP’s Equity Flex Loan fits
AMP Bank built its Equity Flex Loan as an investment-only product designed for longer, interest-only cash-flow management.
- Interest-only repayments for up to 10 years
- Total loan term of 31 to 40 years
- The lender still assesses servicing using a maximum 30-year principal-and-interest period (or shorter if the interest-only period is shorter), not a serviceability shortcut, but a genuine long-term structure.
- No reassessment during the interest-only period
- Offset account available
- Maximum 80% LVR
- Available for investment security only — not owner-occupied
A few practical notes worth flagging to clients before a referral: this product isn’t accessible via a simple product switch — an existing borrower needs a full internal refinance and reassessment. And because it’s a longer, interest-only-heavy structure, it comes with the standard trade-off any adviser would expect to talk through — lower repayments now, more interest paid over the life of the loan, and a step-up in repayments once the interest-only period ends.
Why we’re bringing this to you, not just your clients
Our product discussion relies on a referral relationship for a reason: a loan structure like this only makes sense as part of a plan, not as a standalone pitch. We cannot tell a client whether the numbers support their portfolio strategy or tax position; you handle that. We will structure the lending side properly when you and your client settle on a direction.
If you have clients who are:
- Actively assessing whether to buy established vs. new-build property post-reform,
- Managing an existing portfolio where cash flow flexibility matters more than it used to, or
- Planning a disposal that will fall under the new CGT treatment and want to model the lending side alongside it,
we’d welcome the chance to work through the lending options together — as a second set of eyes on structure, not a substitute for your advice.