If you are weighing a dual occupancy home, a duplex or a new build, the law that changed in June 2026 touches your choice. Before it, building new was one choice among many. Now it has a place of its own.
Why new builds stand apart now
From the 2027-28 income year, negative gearing is limited to new builds, apart from homes already held at 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026. New builds also keep access to the 50 per cent capital gains discount while the rest of the market moves to indexation and a minimum tax. In broad terms, a new build adds a home that was not there before. I have set out the change in Negative gearing after 2026.
Dual occupancy and two other ways to build new
- House and land. A new home on a new block, often in an estate. The land contract and the build contract are usually separate.
- Dual occupancy. Two homes on one block, sometimes under one roof: two rents from one piece of land, often on one title.
- The mini developer. A larger block, or an older home on one, with two or more new homes built on it, held separately once titled. More approvals, a larger build, and more choice later: hold, refinance or sell each one on its own.
Holding or selling what you build
Building to hold and building to sell are taxed differently. A home built to hold is an investment, and its gain is taxed when it is sold. Homes built to sell can be treated as a business, with the profit taxed as income, and GST may apply. Where the line falls depends on the facts and on the intention at the start.
What building involves
A new build needs more of your time and attention than an established home. Approvals take time. The loan is paid out in stages as the build goes up, with interest on each stage. Costs can rise and builders can run late, so the choice of builder deserves as much care as the choice of land. Someone has to keep the broker, lender, solicitor and builder in step, so each stage is ready when it falls due. With MRD, the concierge does it, so you are not chasing anyone and you hear when each step is done.
Take two investors with the same budget for land in the same street. One builds a single four-bedroom home. The other builds a dual occupancy home on a block approved for it: a main house and a smaller self‑contained home, each let separately. It costs more, and it collects two rents from one block. Whether the extra rent covers the interest on the extra money borrowed depends on the block, the build cost and the rate, and that is the first thing I would work out.
Who this does not suit
Building new does not suit someone who needs rent from the first week, or who could not carry the loan through a delay. It does not suit someone who would lose sleep over a council letter. And a small development is a project to see through, with decisions along the way, before it becomes an investment you hold.
A new home has the rules on its side now, and a build to see through. Knowing both is how you decide whether it belongs in your plans.
If you are weighing a build, from the land to the keys, book a first conversation. It costs nothing.
Nicholas Lockhart
Strata or Torrens title: what you own →
Negative gearing after 2026: what changed, and who it touches →
This article reflects the law as at 10 October 2026; an accountant can confirm how the rules apply to you.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Tax reform - Boosting home ownership - Reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax (updated 29 June 2026); Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026.