What Is The Home Guarantee Scheme?
The Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) is an Australian Government initiative to support eligible home buyers to buy a home sooner.
The Scheme includes three types of Guarantees:
- First Home Guarantee (FHBG): supporting eligible home buyers to buy a home sooner, with a deposit as little as 5%. For FY2024-25, 35,000 places are available.
- Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG): supporting eligible regional home buyers to buy a home sooner, in a regional area, with a deposit as little as 5%. For FY2024-25, 10,000 places are available.
- Family Home Guarantee (FHG): supporting eligible single parents and eligible single legal guardians of at least one dependent to buy a home sooner, with a deposit as little as 2%. For FY2024-25, 5,000 places are available.
Typically, to avoid paying LMI, you need a 20% deposit. However, under the scheme, eligible borrowers can avoid LMI even with a deposit as small as 2%, since the government will guarantee up to 18% of the value of the property.
Guarantee Comparison Table
| First Home Guarantee (FHBG) | Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) | Family Home Guarantee (FHG) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places FY2024-25 | 35,000 places | 10,000 places | 5,000 places |
| Minimum deposit required | 5% | 5% | 2% |
| Prior property ownership | First home buyers or previous homeowners who haven’t owned a property in Australia in the past 10 years | Single parents or single legal guardians who do not currently own a property or do not intend to own a separate property when they settle on the home | |
| Residency Eligibility | Australian citizens or permanent residents, New Zealand citizens (subclass 444 visa) | ||
| Applicants | Individual and joint applicants | Individual and joint applicants Must have lived in the regional area or adjacent regional area they are purchasing in for the preceding 12-month period to the date they execute the home loan agreement. Employees who have been required to relocate for work may be exempt from this requirement |
Single parent or single legal guardian of at least one dependent |
| Purchase location | All Australia (where you live) | Regional areas only | All Australia (where you live) |
| Property Type |
|
||
| Property Price cap for the Scheme | Refer to the below table | ||
Price Caps Table
| Region | 2024-25 Price Caps* |
|---|---|
| NSW – Sydney & regional centres (Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Illawarra) |
$900,000 |
| NSW – rest of state | $750,000 |
| VIC – Melbourne & regional centre (Geelong) | $800,000 |
| VIC – rest of state | $650,000 |
| QLD – Brisbane & regional centres (Gold Coast & Sunshine Coast) | $700,000 |
| QLD – rest of state | $550,000 |
| WA – Perth | $600,000 |
| WA – rest of state | $450,000 |
| SA – Adelaide | $600,000 |
| SA – rest of state | $450,000 |
| TAS – Hobart | $600,000 |
| TAS – rest of state | $450,000 |
| ACT | $750,000 |
| Northern Territory | $600,000 |
| Jervis Bay Territory & Norfolk Island | $550,000 |
| Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands | $400,000 |
Who is eligible for First Home Guarantee Scheme
- Australian citizens and permanent residents who are at least 18 years of age.
- Individual applicants with a taxable income of up to $125,000 per annum for the previous financial year and joint applicants with a combined taxable income of up to $200,000 per annum for the previous financial year, as shown on the Notice of Assessment (issued by the Australian Taxation Office). For all FHBG applications made from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 the relevant financial year assessed will be 2023-24.
- The First Home Guarantee assists individual applicants and joint applicants (together) who have at least 5 per cent of the value of an eligible property saved as a deposit. If 20 per cent or more is saved after paying other home purchasing costs (e.g., stamp duty, legal costs), then the home loan will not be covered by the First Home Guarantee.
- Loans under the First Home Guarantee require scheduled repayments of the principal and interest of the loan for the full period of the agreement with limited exceptions for interest-only loans, which mainly
Who is eligible for Family Home Guarantee
- Australian citizens and permanent residents who are at least 18 years of age.
- Must be a single parent or single legal guardian of at least one dependent. A parent or legal guardian is not single if they are married or in a de facto relationship. NB: a person who is separated but not divorced is not single.
- The single parent or single legal guardian must have a taxable income that does not exceed $125,000 per annum for the previous financial year as shown on the Notice of Assessment (issued by the Australian Taxation Office). NB: Child support payments are not included as income for the purpose of the income cap.
- The eligible single parent or eligible single legal guardian must be the only name listed on the loan and the certificate of title.
How To Apply For The Home Guarantee Scheme
You will need to send your application to a participating lender. We can help you with your application. Call us on 0415 571 893 or enquire online today.
