Macquarie stated that any applications in progress for SMSF residential home loans will need to be settled by 30 June 2019.

In a public statement, the bank said that its decision to withdraw from SMSF lending for residential property is part of its plans to “streamline its core home loan offering”.

This latest announcement follows similar moves from other banks, with Westpac, AMP and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia all ceasing their SMSF loan products last year for both residential and commercial property.

ANZ never really played in the space while NAB stopped offering SMSF loans for residential property in 2015.

With the government also planning to introduce a new measure that will include the outstanding balance of certain limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) in the calculation of a member’s total superannuation balance, the options with SMSF borrowing are becoming increasingly limited.

The measure, if passed, will apply to SMSF members that have satisfied a condition of release with a nil cashing restriction or those with a related party loan.

Australian Executor Trustees technical services manager Julie Steed previously told SMSF Adviser that including the outstanding balance of an LRBA where it’s a related party, it is going to become quite problematic given the number of lenders that exited SMSF lending.

While Ms Steed said there are still a number of second-tier lenders operating in the SMSF loans space, SMSF professionals and their clients need to ensure they are working with a lender that specialises in this area to avoid running into any compliance issues.

Where a loan for an SMSF is not properly structured as an LRBA, this can result in the SMSF breaching legislative provisions, she warned.