Is 2024 your year to break into the property market?
If you’re eligible to access the Help to Buy scheme, owning a home may be more accessible than you think.
What is the Help to Buy scheme?
The Help to Buy scheme is a major election promise of the Albanese government aimed at helping 40,000 Australians buy their first home.
Created for low and middle-income Australians, the scheme is an equity-sharing program where the government can contribute a significant sum towards a home purchase.
The sum can be up to 40 per cent of the value of a new home and up to 30 per cent of the value of an established home, which will cover the majority of the deposit.
Deposits are usually required to be 20 per cent of the home’s value, and raising that amount can be very difficult in the current economic climate. However, if you’re eligible for the scheme, you will only be expected to come up with a deposit of two per cent.
Who will qualify for the Help to Buy scheme?
Financial circumstances change in your life and it can be frustrating to not qualify for Government support because you have owned a home in the past. To resolve this, the Help to Buy scheme is intended to service any eligible Australian who needs help to buy a home, even if it isn’t your first time making a purchase.
According to the Government:
• States will need to pass their own legislation in order for Help to Buy to operate in their jurisdiction.
• Help to Buy will operate in the territories following passage of Commonwealth legislation.
• All states agreed at National Cabinet to progress legislation so the Scheme will run nationally from 2024.
Once a start date is announced, the scheme will be open to a total of 40,000 Australians, at 10,000 a year. It is based on income, with low to middle-income earners being eligible. This means that if
you earn up to $90,000 a year as a single or up to $120,000 as a couple, you may be eligible to buy a home with only a two per cent deposit.
The following criteria also apply:
• You also have to be an Australian resident
• You can’t currently own a home or have a share in a residential property
• You have to be eligible for a standard home loan
There is also a limit on the value of the property purchased under the scheme. This limit varies from state to state because of different average values:
• NSW: Capital city and regional centres: $950,000
• Rest of state: $600,000
• VIC: Capital city and regional centres: $850,000
• Rest of state: $550,000
• QLD: Capital city and regional centres: $650,000
• Rest of state: $500,000
• WA: Capital city and regional centres: $550,000
• Rest of state: $400,000
• SA: Capital city and regional centres: $550,000
• Rest of state: $400,000
• TAS: Capital city and regional centres: $550,000
• Rest of state: $400,000
• ACT: $600,000
• NT: $550,000
How big a saving can you make?
The benefit of the Help to Buy scheme, along with needing to save far less for your deposit, is that you can take out a smaller home loan. The Albanese government estimates participants could save from $285,000 to $380,000, depending on whether they buy a new or established home.
What you need to know
The Help to Buy scheme sees the government acting as an investor of sorts.
If you successfully apply for this scheme, the government will hold equity in your home.
This doesn’t mean they have control over your life on the property, but it does mean that when you sell, they are entitled to a slice of the sale, equating to the percentage they contributed.
So the drawback is that your profits won’t be as high when you sell as they would be if you purchased independently.
However, the options exist to buy a higher stake in the house from the government as time goes on or buy them out completely.
How to apply for the Help to Buy scheme
There are more details to come about how to apply. If you are unsure as to whether or not you would be eligible, keep in touch with your real estate agent. They can help you discover your eligibility and can connect you with a mortgage broker who will guide you through the paperwork.
Ready to buy a home this year? Talk to your local Professionals representative today.
