The Home Guarantee Scheme has helped 100,000 Australians buy or build their own home over the past three years through, the government announced this week.
According to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC), which administers the scheme, one in five of those were key workers, including 6,700 teachers, 5,000 nurses and almost 3,500 social workers.
Regional areas have been strongly supported, with over a third (34,000) of the guarantees provided to regional Australians.
The Home Guarantee Scheme comprises the First Home Guarantee (FHBG), the Family Home Guarantee (FHG) and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) and is currently available to eligible home buyers through 32 participating lenders.
NHFIC CEO Nathan Dal Bon said it is a ‘wonderful milestone’ to have helped 100,000 homebuyers into their own homes.
“We support Australians across the housing spectrum from those renting in community housing, through to Australians with the goal of homeownership — we look forward to helping more Australians over the coming years into homes sooner under the scheme”, he said.
To that end, the government has proposed changes to expand the eligibility of the programs under the scheme, including:
– All programs will become available to eligible borrowers who are Australian permanent residents, in addition to Australian citizens.
– For First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, the eligibility will expand to friends, siblings, and other family members for joint applications. These guarantees had previously been restricted to people who were married or in a de-facto relationship, in addition to single applicants.
– The First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee will also be expanded to non-first home buyers who haven’t owned a property in Australia in the last ten years.
– The eligibility for Family Home Guarantee will be expanded to include eligible borrowers who are single legal guardians of children such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
The changes are set to take effect on 1 July 2023, but will first require amendment to the NHFIC Act and NHFIC’s Investment Mandate.
