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10,000 first home buyers get major leg up

Eliza Bavin
·Personal Finance Editor
Updated ·2-min read
An open home sign on the sidewalk demonstrating a home is for sale and a row of houses in an Australian suburb.
First home buyers in regional Australia will get access to a new scheme to help them enter the property market. (Source: Getty)

Up to 10,000 first home buyers in Australia will soon be able to buy their home with just a 5 per cent deposit under a new scheme from the Albanese Government.

From Saturday, October 1 thousands of regional Australians will be helped into their first home through the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee.

From October, 10,000 places will be made available each financial year to support first home buyers in regional areas to purchase a new or existing home, with a deposit as little as 5 per cent.

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The scheme provides a government guarantee of up to 15 per cent for eligible first home buyers, so regional Australians with a 5 per cent deposit can avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for a Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, applicants must be Australian citizens, purchase outside a capital city, and demonstrate they have been living in the region in which they are purchasing the property (or adjacent regional area) for at least 12 months.

This means the scheme cannot be accessed by those who have been living the city and decide to make a sea or tree change.

Property price caps and income caps will be consistent with the existing First Home Guarantee, administered by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC).

Property price caps vary depending on the location of the home and the year in which the scheme is accessed.

For the current 2022-23 financial year the price caps are:

  • NSW - $750,000

  • VIC - $650,000

  • QLD - $550,000

  • WA - $450,000

  • SA - $450,000

  • TAS - $450,000

  • ACT - $750,000

  • NT - $600,000

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this scheme will help improve housing outcomes for Australians.

“We have brought this support forward to help thousands of people living in regional Australia purchase their own home,” Albanese said.

“This is part of our ambitious housing agenda to support more people to purchase their own home as well as investing in social and affordable housing.”

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