How to Calculate Artificial Grass, Loans and Capital Gains
Half the questions Australians type into Google start with the word "calculate" — how much turf to buy, how much a bank will lend, how much tax is owed when a property sells. The maths behind each one isn't hard once you know the formula, but the inputs trip people up.
This guide pulls the most-searched "calculate" jobs into one place, from a Sydney backyard lawn to a Melbourne investment property sale. Each section leads with the short answer, then shows the working so you can sanity-check any number before you commit. Where a calculator does the heavy lifting, we point you straight to a free Leadkit calculator so you're not doing long division at the kitchen table.
Last updated: July 2026.
Key takeaways
- Artificial grass: measure the area in square metres, add 10% for cuts and joins, then multiply by the supplied-and-installed rate of roughly $70–$120/m² in 2026.
- Borrowing power: lenders assess your income against expenses and existing debts, then stress-test the loan at your rate plus APRA's 3% serviceability buffer.
- Equity boosts borrowing power: usable equity is generally 80% of your home's value minus what you still owe, and it can fund a deposit on the next purchase.
- Capital gains: your capital gain is sale price minus the cost base (what you paid plus buying, holding and selling costs).
- Capital gains tax (CGT): hold an asset over 12 months and individuals get a 50% CGT discount; the discounted gain is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate.
What's in this guide
- How do you calculate artificial grass for a lawn?
- How do you calculate borrowing power for a home loan?
- How do you calculate borrowing power with equity?
- How do you calculate capital gains?
- How do you calculate capital gains tax?
- How do you calculate capital gains tax on an investment property?
- How do you calculate capital gains tax on property and real estate?
- Frequently asked questions
Quick-reference table
| What you're calculating | The core formula | Typical 2026 figure |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial grass | Area (m²) × 1.10 wastage × rate/m² | $70–$120/m² installed |
| Borrowing power | Assessed income − expenses − debts, stress-tested | ~5–6× gross income |
| Usable equity | (Property value × 80%) − loan balance | Varies by suburb |
| Capital gain | Sale price − cost base | Depends on hold period |
| CGT payable | Discounted gain × marginal tax rate | 0–47% of the gain |
These figures are ballparks based on estimates generated through Leadkit's Australian calculators using current rates. This is a price indication only. Your tradie or broker will confirm the final figure after assessing the job. Tax outcomes should be confirmed with a registered accountant.
How do you calculate artificial grass for a lawn?
To calculate artificial grass, measure your lawn's length and width in metres, multiply them for the area in square metres, add about 10% for offcuts and joins, then multiply by the installed rate. In 2026 that rate sits at roughly $70–$120 per m² supplied and laid across most of Australia.
Say a Brisbane backyard is 6 m × 5 m — that's 30 m². Add 10% wastage and you're buying for 33 m². At $95/m² installed, you're looking at about $3,135. Doing it yourself drops the turf-only cost to around $25–$45/m², but you take on the prep.
The prep is where budgets blow out. A proper install needs a compacted road base (the crushed-rock sub-base that stops the lawn moving), a layer of bedding sand, and infill — the sand or rubber granules brushed into the blades to keep them upright. Skip these and the grass ripples within a season.
Want an instant number for your yard? Compare the DIY versus installed cost in our artificial grass cost guide, then grab quotes. Remember any figure is an estimate until an installer measures the site.
How do you calculate borrowing power for a home loan?
Your borrowing power is the maximum a lender will approve based on your income minus your living expenses and existing debts, stress-tested against a buffer. As a rough rule of thumb in 2026, Australian banks lend around five to six times gross annual income, but the real number comes from a servicing calculation, not a multiple.
Lenders start with your assessable income (salary, and often a shaded portion of bonuses or rent), subtract the Household Expenditure Measure or your declared living costs, and subtract commitments like car loans, HECS-HELP and credit card limits. Whatever's left is your surplus for loan repayments.
Then comes the APRA serviceability buffer: banks must check you could still repay if rates rose 3 percentage points above the actual rate, a rule set by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). So a 6.2% loan is assessed at about 9.2%, which is why your approved amount feels conservative.
A single earner on $95,000 with no debts might borrow roughly $480,000–$540,000; add a partner's income and it climbs fast. The fastest way to a real figure is the borrowing power calculator, and our guide on how much you can borrow walks through the levers.
How do you calculate borrowing power with equity?
Equity increases your borrowing power by supplying the deposit for your next purchase, so you calculate it as your usable equity plus your normal servicing capacity. Usable equity is generally 80% of your property's current value minus your outstanding loan balance — the slice you can access without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Here's the working. Your Sydney home is valued at $1,100,000 and you owe $500,000. Eighty per cent of the value is $880,000; subtract the $500,000 loan and you have $380,000 in usable equity. That equity can become the deposit and costs on an investment property, letting you buy without fresh cash savings.
Lenders then apply the same servicing test to the total borrowing, so equity gets you the deposit but your income still has to cover the repayments across both loans. Push past the 80% mark and LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) reappears, adding thousands to the cost.
Across the borrowing estimates generated through Leadkit, equity is the lever homeowners most often forget they're sitting on. Run your own number with the usable equity calculator, then browse the full finance and property calculators to model repayments.
How do you calculate capital gains?
Your capital gain is simply the sale price of an asset minus its cost base — what you paid plus the costs of buying, holding and selling it. If you sell for more than the cost base you have a capital gain; sell for less and you have a capital loss, which can offset gains in the same or future years.
The cost base is more than the purchase price. It includes stamp duty, legal and conveyancing fees, buyer's agent fees, and capital improvements like a new kitchen or a deck — but not repairs you've already claimed as deductions. Getting the cost base right is where most DIY calculations go wrong, usually by leaving money on the table.
Worked example: you bought a shares parcel or property for $600,000 with $30,000 of buying costs, spent $40,000 on a renovation, and sold for $850,000 after $20,000 in selling costs. Cost base = $600,000 + $30,000 + $40,000 = $670,000. Gross gain = $850,000 − $670,000 − $20,000 = $160,000. That $160,000 is the figure the tax rules then work on.
How do you calculate capital gains tax?
Capital gains tax isn't a separate tax — you calculate the taxable gain, then it's added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate. For an asset held more than 12 months, individuals apply the 50% CGT discount, so only half the gain is taxable, per the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Take the $160,000 gain from the last example. Held over 12 months, the 50% discount halves it to $80,000 assessable. Add that to a $95,000 salary and the top slice is taxed at your marginal rate (including the 2% Medicare levy). At a 37% bracket plus Medicare, the CGT on that gain lands near $31,200 — but the exact figure depends on your total income for the year.
Three things change the outcome: hold period (under 12 months means no discount and the full gain is taxed), capital losses you can subtract first, and your taxable income in the sale year, since selling in a lower-income year can drop you into a gentler bracket. The capital gains tax calculator handles the discount and bracket maths for you.
How do you calculate capital gains tax on an investment property?
For an investment property, CGT is calculated on the sale price minus the cost base, then the 50% discount is applied if you held it over 12 months — but you must first subtract any capital works deductions you've already claimed. Those depreciation claims reduce your cost base, which increases the taxable gain, so an investment property often has a bigger gain than owners expect.
The mechanics: start with the gross gain (sale price − cost base − selling costs), reduce the cost base by claimed capital works, subtract any carried-forward capital losses, apply the 50% discount, then add the result to your taxable income. Negative gearing during ownership doesn't reduce CGT directly, though it shapes the income year you sell into — our negative gearing explainer covers that interplay.
Because the numbers get layered, this is the one calculation worth modelling before you list. Our full walkthrough on capital gains tax on investment property shows a complete worked example. Any CGT figure here is indicative — confirm it with a registered tax agent before lodging.
How do you calculate capital gains tax on property and real estate?
CGT on property and real estate follows the same formula as any asset — gain equals sale price minus cost base, discounted 50% if held over a year — but your main residence is generally exempt. Sell the home you actually live in and you usually pay no CGT at all, which is why the calculation matters most for investment and secondary real estate.
The main-residence exemption has edges worth knowing. Rent out part or all of your home and a portion of the gain may become taxable, apportioned by floor area and time. Move out and rent it while keeping it as your main residence, and the "six-year rule" can preserve the exemption for up to six years. A holiday house or vacant land you never lived in gets no exemption.
For real estate held in a company or SMSF the discount differs — companies get no 50% discount, and complying super funds get a one-third discount instead. So the same sale can produce very different CGT depending on who owns it. When the ownership structure is anything beyond a personal name, run the numbers early and get advice, because the exemptions and discounts are where property CGT is won or lost.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much artificial grass do I need for my backyard?
A: Measure the length and width of each area in metres, multiply for the square-metre total, then add roughly 10% for offcuts and joins. A 6 m × 5 m yard is 30 m², so you'd order about 33 m². For odd shapes, break the space into rectangles and add them up. Once you have the area, multiply by an installed rate of $70–$120/m² for a 2026 budget, or use our artificial grass cost guide to compare DIY and professional pricing.
Q: How do banks calculate how much I can borrow?
A: Lenders take your assessable income, subtract living expenses and existing debts, and check the surplus can cover repayments stress-tested at your rate plus APRA's 3% buffer. Deposit size, loan term and credit card limits all move the number. A rough guide is five to six times gross income, but the real figure comes from a servicing calculation. The fastest way to see yours is the borrowing power calculator.
Q: Can I use my home's equity to boost my borrowing power?
A: Yes. Usable equity is about 80% of your property's value minus your loan balance, and it can fund the deposit and costs on your next purchase without fresh savings. A $1.1m home with a $500k loan gives roughly $380,000 usable. Your income still has to service the total borrowing, so equity solves the deposit, not the repayments. The usable equity calculator gives you a figure in seconds.
Q: How do I calculate capital gains tax when I sell?
A: Work out your capital gain (sale price minus cost base minus selling costs), apply the 50% CGT discount if you owned the asset for more than 12 months, subtract any capital losses, then add the result to your taxable income. It's taxed at your marginal rate, not a flat CGT rate. The capital gains tax calculator does the discount and bracket maths for you.
Q: Do I pay capital gains tax on my family home?
A: Generally no — your main residence is exempt from CGT under ATO rules, so most owner-occupiers pay nothing when they sell. The exemption can be reduced if you rented the home out, ran a business from it, or the land is very large. The six-year rule may keep the exemption if you move out and rent it temporarily. Investment properties and holiday homes get no main-residence exemption.
Q: Does holding an asset longer really cut the tax?
A: For individuals, yes — holding for more than 12 months qualifies you for the 50% CGT discount, so only half the gain is taxable. Sell inside 12 months and the full gain is added to your income. Timing the sale into a lower-income year can also drop you into a gentler tax bracket. Model both scenarios before you sell, and confirm the outcome with a registered tax agent.
Getting your number, fast
Every calculation here comes down to the same discipline: get the inputs right, apply the formula, then stress-test the result. Whether you're pricing a Perth lawn or a Gold Coast property sale, a wrong input — undersized area, forgotten cost base, ignored buffer — is what turns a good estimate into a nasty surprise.
The calculators do the arithmetic; you bring the honest inputs. Round conservatively, keep your receipts for anything that lifts a cost base, and get professional advice before a decision with tax or lending consequences.
Want the answer without the maths? Browse the free Leadkit calculators and get an instant estimate for your job — no signup, takes under a minute. Every result is a price indication only; your tradie, broker or accountant confirms the final figure after assessing your situation.