Construction loans
at Kings Forest.

Kings Forest spent close to fifty years on the drawing board before Stockland bought the 869-hectare site in August 2025 and got moving. The first lots were registered with NSW Land Registry Services late that year, the first families settled in early 2026, and around 200 homesites have now sold, priced from the high $700,000s.

We live in Casuarina, a few minutes up the road. Our son considers the new Kings Forest pump track his personal property, so if you've seen a small kid on a balance bike refusing to leave at dinner time, that was probably us. Between playground visits, Coastal Home Lending has been helping buyers work out how to finance land and builds in the estate. Here's what you need to know.

Where the development is at

As at July 2026:

• Stockland acquired the site from Leda Holdings in August 2025 for a reported $620 million.

• The first 148 residential lots were registered in late 2025, and settlements began in early 2026.

• Close to 200 lots have sold, with land priced from the high $700,000s and lot sizes from 392 to 610 square metres.

• Land is being released monthly through 2026, and a new sales and information centre is planned for Casuarina.

• Civil works on the early stages are complete, roads are sealed, and street lighting is being connected.

• The community park and playground are open, with a basketball and netball court, bike pump track, BBQ areas and walking paths.

• The full masterplan covers more than 4,000 homes for around 11,000 residents, with a future town centre, schools, childcare and sports fields, plus 330 hectares set aside for conservation.

Interest is coming from Tweed Coast and southern Gold Coast upgraders, plus Sydney and Brisbane buyers chasing a coastal base, and downsizers wanting to be near the new Tweed Valley Hospital. In short, releases are moving quickly.

Why buying here is different to buying a house

When you buy an established home, you sign one contract and take out one loan. At Kings Forest you're usually signing two: one with Stockland for the land, and one with your builder. The finance follows the same split. Your lender funds the land at settlement, then releases the construction portion in stages as your home goes up.

There's an added wrinkle with a new estate. Much of the land being sold hasn't been registered yet, which means you can sign a contract now on a lot that won't title for months. Formal loan approvals generally only last around 90 days, so the approval needs to be timed around the expected registration date rather than the day you sign.

How a construction loan works

A construction loan is drawn down in stages rather than handed over as a lump sum. Your lender pays the builder directly at each milestone, and you only pay interest on what has been drawn. Most builds follow five progress payments:

1. Slab or base

2. Frame

3. Lock-up (roof, external walls, windows and doors)

4. Fixing (internal fit-out, plumbing, electrical)

5. Completion

During the build you'll usually pay interest only, which keeps repayments manageable while you're also covering rent or another mortgage. Once the final payment is made, the loan converts to standard principal and interest repayments.

Lenders will want a building contract, council-approved plans, and evidence your builder is licensed and insured. The valuation is done "as if complete", meaning the land plus the contract price, so the numbers need to stack up before the first sod turns.

Timing matters more than usual here

With monthly releases and strong demand, a few things are worth sorting before you put a deposit down. Get pre-approved ahead of a release, so you know your ceiling and can commit on the day without guessing. Because the land may not register for months, we then manage the approval so it's current when settlement is actually called. Land contracts in new estates also tend to include a build covenant requiring construction to start within a set period after settlement, so builder selection can't sit in the too-hard basket for long.

First home buyers

Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible for NSW first home buyer concessions or the federal Home Guarantee Scheme when buying land and building. Eligibility rules and price caps change, and a house-and-land purchase is assessed differently to an established home, so it's worth a conversation before you assume you do or don't qualify. Start with the first home buyers page or the stamp duty calculator.

A broker who's actually local

Steph runs Coastal Home Lending from Casuarina and works with buyers across the Tweed Coast, northern NSW and the southern Gold Coast. She knows the estate, the builders working in it, and which lenders are comfortable with unregistered land and construction lending, because policies differ more than you would expect. And if you would rather meet at the Kings Forest playground than an office, honestly, we are probably already there.

Talk it through

If you're eyeing a block at Kings Forest, book a free chat with Steph. It costs nothing, and if you're local the coffee's on us.