Government home buying schemes – post 2022 Federal election
Through our time at Raiz Home Ownership, we have seen that while many people have the income to afford a loan, the hard thing to do is to build up the deposit. This was one of the reasons Raiz was started in the first place; to assist in saving for life goals such as deposits for houses.
Now that the 2022 Federal Election has been decided, we can look at what assistance may be available when it comes to purchasing a property. The incoming Labor government has stated that the following schemes are to be rolled out starting from 1st January 2023, with more details to follow.
Help to Buy Scheme
The Help to Buy scheme is new and was announced during the 2022 election campaign.
How does it work?
The Federal Government co-purchases part of your new home, up to a maximum of 40% of the purchase price of a new home and up to a maximum of 30% of the purchase price for an existing home, for up to 10,000 Australians each financial year.
What it means in practise is that the Government co-owns the property with you, but you are free to treat the home as your own. You can buy them out over time, and when you go to sell the house, the Government gets to keep whatever percentage of sale price that it still owns.
A key question yet to be spelled out is the scenario where you spend a material amount of money improving the house. Will these improvements be included as repayments by the Government or increase your share ownership of the property? Otherwise, the Government may get a free ride on your investment or sweat equity.
Eligibility for the Help to Buy Scheme
To qualify, you must be an Australian citizen aged 18 and over with a taxable income of up $90,000 per annum or couples with a combined figure of $120,000, who currently don’t own or have some sort of financial ownership in a residential property. Below is a chart with the current value caps that apply for this scheme for each part of Australia.
Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme
This is a new scheme which will provide a government guarantee of up to 15% for eligible first home buyers, so that locals with a 5% deposit can avoid paying mortgage insurance. This is effectively an extension of the existing First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
This scheme has been retained and will provide a government guarantee of up to 15% for eligible first home buyers, so that first home buyers with a 5% deposit can avoid paying mortgage insurance.
$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund
This will be a new initiative aiming to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years. We don’t have the details yet but will keep you informed as soon as the details are published.
The Takeaway
- The Help To Buy scheme favours singles, but excludes two equally paid couples from the scheme. We will get more information as formal communications are set, so this may change.
- The Regional First Home Buyers Support Scheme is an expansion of the existing First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, which has been very helpful to get people into their first home.
- There are likely to be rising interest rates, so do revisit your basic household budgeting, but if you are looking to buy your first home or establish a new nest for your family, the good news is that there is assistance available.
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If you would like to find out more about Raiz Home Ownership, please contact the team at home@raizhomeownership.com.au, or register your interest.
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