Are you interested in buying your first home? Here are 6 First Home Buyer Schemes you may be eligible for. 

1. First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme (FHBAS) 

If you’re a first home buyer, you may be entitled to a concessional rate of transfer duty or even an exemption from paying it altogether under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBAS).

This scheme applies to,

• Buying an existing home
• Buying a new home and
• Buying vacant land in which you intend to build on

First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme: 1 July 2017 – 31 July 2020 and continuing from 1 August 2021

Who is eligible?

• Must be an individual, not a company or trust
• Must be above the age 18
• You and your spouse/partner must never have owned or co-owned a residential property in Australia
• You and your spouse/partner, must never have received an exemption or concession under this scheme
• At least one of the first home buyers must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Requirements for the property

• move into the home within 12 months of buying the property 
• live there for at least 6 continuous months 

2. First Home Owner (New) Grant (FHOG)

This scheme allows you to receive $10,000 when you buy or build your first new home. Your first new home can be a house, townhouse, apartment, unit or similar that is newly built, purchased off the plan or substantially renovated. 

How much can I spend?

* If you purchase vacant land and sign a building contract with a builder then we add the value of the vacant land plus the value of the comprehensive home building contract plus the cost of any building variations done together. The total combined cost must not exceed $750,000.
 

Who is eligible? 

• Most of the home was removed or replaced
• The seller, builder or a tenant has not lived in the home prior to, during or after the renovations.
• It is the first time the home has been sold since completion of renovations
• Received a First Home Owner Grant in Australia.
• Owned a home or other residential property in Australia, either jointly or separately, before 1 July 2000.
• Lived for six continuous months or more in a home located in Australia that you owned (wholly or partially) on or after 1 July 2000.

However, you or your spouse may still be eligible for the First Home Owner Grant if:

• you purchased a residential property after 1 July 2000 and didn’t live in it for more than six continuous months.

Click here to view more about the FHOG

3. First Home Guarantee (FHBG) - Apart of the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS)

The First Home Guarantee (Formerly known as First Home Loan Deposit Scheme) is a popular scheme allowing you to purchase your first home with as little as 5% deposit without paying Lender Mortgage Insurance. When purchasing a home, you are required to provide a 20% deposit towards the purchase to avoid paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance. 

Property types and Price caps

• an existing house, townhouse, or apartment 
• a house and land package
• land and a separate contract to build a home 
• an off-the-plan apartment or townhouse.

The price cap will depend on the location of the home, use the Property Price Cap Tool to look up the property price caps for each location. 

Who is eligible?

• applying as an individual or couple (married / de facto)  
• an Australian citizen(s) at the time they enter the loan
• at least 18 years of age
• earning up to $125,000 for individuals or $200,000 for couples, as shown on the Notice of Assessment (issued by the Australian Taxation Office) 
• intending to be owner-occupiers of the purchased property  
• first home buyers who have not previously owned, or had an interest in, a property in Australia. 

Click here to view more about the FHBG

4. First Home Super Saver (FHSS)

The First Home Super Saver scheme allows people to save money for their first home inside their super fund.

From 1 July 2017, you can make voluntary concessional (before tax) and voluntary non-concessional (after tax) contributions into your super fund to save for your first home. 

From 1 July 2018, you can apply to release your contributions, along with associated earnings, to help you purchase your first home. 

Who is eligible?

You can use this scheme if you are a first home buyer and both of the following apply:

• You will occupy the premises you buy or intend to as soon as practicable.
• You intend to occupy the property for at least 6 months within the first 12 months you own it, after it is practical to move in.

Click here to view more about the FHSS 

5. Family Home Guarantee (FHG) - Apart of the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS)

The Family Home Guarantee supports eligible single parents with at least one dependent child to buy a home, whether that be a first home owner or previous home owner with only a 2% deposit. 

Who is eligible? 

To apply for the FHG, home buyers must be:  

• applying as an individual  
• a single parent with at least one dependent child 
• an Australian citizen at the time they enter the loan  
• at least 18 years of age  
• be earning no more than $125,000 per year  
• intending to be owner-occupier of the purchased property  
• NOT currently own a property 

Single parent

To apply for the FHG, home buyers must:  

• be single. A person is considered single if they don’t have a spouse and/or a de facto partner. A person who is separated but not divorced is not considered single 
• have at least one dependent child. To have a dependent child, you must be the natural or adoptive parent of the child and the child must either be 
• a “dependent child” within the meaning of subsections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) of section 5 of the Social Security Act 1991 or   
• at least 16 but under 22 years of age, receive a disability support pension within the meaning of the Social Security Act 1991 and live with you.  

For the purposes of the Social Security Act 1991, you must show that you are legally responsible (whether alone or jointly with another person) for the day-to-day care, welfare and development of the dependent child and the dependent child is in your care. 

Previous Home Ownership

FHG applicants can be either first home buyers or previous owners who do not currently own a home. To be eligible, you must not currently have:  

• a freehold interest in real property in Australia  
• a lease of land in Australia  
• a company title interest in land in Australia. 

Click here to view more about the FHG 

6. Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) - Apart of the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS)

The Regional First Homer Buyer Guarantee Scheme aims for first home buyers to purchase their first home in a regional area. Starting in October 2022, there will be 10,000 scheme places available. This scheme is similar to the First Home Guarantee, where you only require a minimum deposit of 5% without having to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

Who is eligible? 

• applying as an individual or couple (married / de facto)  
• an Australian citizen(s) at the time they enter the loan  
• at least 18 years of age  
• earning up to $125,000 for individuals or $200,000 for couples, as shown on the Notice of Assessment (issued by the Australian Taxation Office)  
• intending to be owner-occupiers of the purchased property* 
• first home buyers who have not previously owned, or had an interest in, a property in Australia 
• home buyers (or at least one borrower when applying as a couple) 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 (also called the Home Loan Date)*. 

Use the Regional Checker, to see if the suburb you intend to purchase in is eligible for this scheme and access the Property Price Cap Tool to look up the price caps in your suburb.  

Click here to view more about RFHBG

7. First Home Buyers Choice (FHBC)

The First Home Buyers Choice now provides first home buyers who are intending to purchase a property between $650K and $1.5m in value the ability to choose to pay an annual property tax instead of stamp duty. You are able to choose whether you would rather pay stamp duty or annual property tax. This scheme will be available on the 16th of January, 2023. 

The annual property tax payments will be based on the land value of the purchased property. The property tax rates for 2022-23 and 2023-24 will be:

• $400 plus 0.3 per cent of land value for properties whose owners live in them
• $1,500 plus 1.1 per cent of land value for investment properties.

These tax rates will be adjusted each year from 2024-25, so that the average indexed property tax payment rises in line with average annual incomes. In addition, the year-to-year growth of individual property tax payments are capped at a maximum of 4 per cent.

Property tax assessments will be issued in respect of financial years. For properties that are owned for less than a full financial year, a pro rata adjustment will be made based on the number of days in the year the property is owned.

Who is eligible? 

• you must be an individual (not a company or trust)
• you must be over 18 years old
• you, or at least one person you’re buying with, must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• you or your spouse must not have previously:
  • owned or co-owned residential property in Australia
  • received a First Home Buyer Grant or duty concessions.
• the property you are buying must be worth less than or equal to $1.5 million
• you must move into the property within 12 months of purchase and live in it continuously for at least 6 months
• you must sign the contract of purchase on or after 11 November 2022 (see below for details).

Home Guarantee Scheme 

The Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) is an Australian Government initiative to support eligible home buyers to purchase a home sooner, The scheme is administered by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) on behalf of the Australian Government. 

The HGS includes:

1. The First Home Guarantee (FHBG)

2. The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG)

3. The Family Home Guarantee (FHG)

If you would like to find out more about the First Home Buyer Schemes, contact us today at

(02) 4905 0250 or book an appointment with Beth by clicking here. 

-Emilee