Under 'normal' circumstances this transaction would be deemed to be an investment made with a related party and therefore a contravention of the SIS Act.

However section 71 of the SIS Act excludes an investment jointly held between a SMSF and a related party from being classified as an in house asset.

Therefore a SMSF is able make an investment with a related party such as a family trust as tenants in common.  The advantages of this arrangement are that the resources of a family group can be pooled together compared to the situation where one member / entity on its own may have insufficient resources to fund the purchase.

Tenants in common is a form of co or joint ownship between two parties of real estate.  Tenants in common will typically have fixed and undivided shares in the property.  The ownership percentage is usually determined by each party, i.e., 50% each or 30% / 70%.