More than 10,000 people in regional Australia have taken advantage of the Albanese Government’s Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee in just its first year.
The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee was delivered three months ahead of schedule in October 2022.
The Guarantee provides a government guarantee of up to 15 per cent for eligible home buyers, so regional Australians with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent can avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.
The Albanese Government has expanded eligibility criteria for the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee to help even more Australians.
From 1 July this year, friends, siblings, and other family members have been eligible for joint applications under the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee.
The Guarantee has also be expanded to non‑first home buyers who haven’t owned a property in Australia in the last ten years. This will support those who have fallen out of homeownership, often due to financial crisis or relationship breakdown.
The Albanese Government has helped more than 73,000 people into home ownership since the election across the Home Guarantee Scheme.
In addition to the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, the Albanese Government’s ambitious housing reform agenda also includes:
- The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund
- A new national target to build 1.2 million well‑located homes
- A $3 billion New Homes Bonus, and $500 million Housing Support Program
- A $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator to deliver thousands of new social homes across Australia
- A National Housing Accord which includes federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024 (to be matched by up to another 10,000 by the states and territories)
- An investment of an additional $1 billion in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support more homes
- Up to $575 million in funding already unlocked from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, with homes under construction across the country
- Increasing the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 15 per cent, the largest increase in more than 30 years
- An additional $2 billion in financing for more social and affordable rental housing through the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation
- New incentives to boost the supply of rental housing by changing arrangements for investments in Build‑to‑Rent accommodation
- A $1.7 billion one year extension of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement with states and territories, including a $67.5 million boost to homelessness funding over the next year
- The development of a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan
- States and territories committing to A Better Deal for Renters
- States and territories supporting the national roll out of the Help to Buy program, which will reduce the cost of buying a home
